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Venango County Salary Board approves personnel reclassifications and updates pay grades, ends Human Services "step" program
Summary
The Venango County Salary Board on June 9 approved a slate of personnel actions — including new and reclassified positions, pay-grade updates and the termination of the Human Services "step" program — and authorized administrative rule changes to remove recruitment/retention bonus language.
The Venango County Salary Board on June 9 approved multiple personnel actions and pay-grade updates intended to address recruitment and retention challenges across county departments.
Commissioner Samuel H. Breene called the meeting to order at 4:38 p.m. and Pastor Jeremy Coyer of Christ Covenant Church gave the invocation. Jeannie Ritchey, the county treasurer, moved to approve the minutes of the Dec. 9, 2025 Salary Board meeting; Commissioner Timothy M. Heffernan seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
The board then considered "Attachment B," a list of specific personnel actions. Commissioner Kenneth J. Bryan moved to approve the attachment; Commissioner Heffernan seconded and the board voted to approve. Attachment B included: creation of a temporary Director of Finance position to be used for training and abolished upon the current director's retirement; reallocation of a Data Collector to Field Assessor; creation of a limited-term Legal Intern position (to last no longer than Aug. 31, 2026); reallocation and reclassification within the Sheriff's Office and the prison (including conversion of two Corrections Officer positions to Field Training Officer roles and a reclassification of existing prison positions to Corporal and a Captain to Major, with no change in pay rates); a reallocation in Fiscal Operations from Fiscal Officer II to Budget Analyst II; abolition of an Adult Community Health Nurse position; and new Park Department positions (a part-time Park Maintenance IV and a full-time Park Manager), among other items listed in Attachment B.
The board also approved the Salary Board narrative, which described regional recruitment and retention challenges and proposed updates to pay ranges. The narrative directs changes to the HSNEHR and HSEXEM pay ranges effective July 5, 2026, and to the NEHR and EXEM pay ranges effective Jan. 1, 2027. It states that the Human Services "Step Program" will end July 5, 2026 and that administrative rules have been updated to remove references to recruitment and retention bonus programs for Human Services departments; employees already under an annual retention-bonus agreement will receive payments per their existing agreements but such agreements will not be continued after the obligation concludes.
The minutes record no public comment on the Salary Board items. With no other business, Ms. Ritchey moved to adjourn at 4:41 p.m.; Commissioner Heffernan seconded and the board voted to adjourn.
Key procedural outcomes recorded in the official minutes include the approval of the Dec. 9, 2025 minutes; adoption of the Attachment B personnel actions; approval of the Salary Board narrative including the alteration of multiple pay ranges and the termination of the Human Services step program; and formal adjournment. The minutes list attendees and signatures from the treasurer, administrative assistant and the three commissioners.
