FROM SHNS:
JUDICIOUS PAY: When the Legislature
boosted judges' pay by $30,000 over the summer, it also hiked the salaries of
clerks and registrars (Registrars? Registerers?). The new income levels now look
pretty good, especially to some of the lawmakers and other
officials who are interested in taking the open Hampden County register of
probate job.
Candidates for Hampden County register of probate will see a boost in pay and pension, if they win
By
on December 29, 2013
Any one of the three likely candidates for Hampden County register of probate would see a significant jump in their pay should they win the job, due to a new salary increase passed by the state Legislature.
A vote by the Legislature this summer to increase the salaries of state judges by $30,000 drew discussion among court officials and taxpayer groups. Less talked about was the fact that the raise will also boost the pay of court clerks and registers of probate, which are tied to judicial salaries.
The Hampden County register of probate job is open after 22-year register Thomas Moriarty retired in 2012. The full impact of the salary increase will go into effect six months before the new register takes office. Although the likely candidates - interim register Suzanne Seguin, outgoing Chicopee Mayor Michael Bissonnette and state Sen. Gale Candaras, D-Wilbraham – say the money is not a significant factor in their decisions to run for the job, it will mean a large raise for any one of them.
"It's an appealing salary for the position," said Seguin.
In 2013, a register of probate in Massachusetts earned $110,221. That amount will increase in two stages, to $122,456 on Jan. 1, 2014 and $130,613 on July 1, 2014, according to a court spokeswoman. The salary is the same across counties.
The impact is greater than just salary. For any state employee hired before April 2012, his pension benefits are calculated based on his average salary during his three highest-paid consecutive years, so a higher salary means a higher pension. The actual pension payout depends on a number of factors, including age and years of service.
State Sen. Gale Candaras, D-WilbrahamCandaras, for the 2013-2014 legislative session, is drawing a salary of $75,032. She has served in the state Senate since 2007 and before that spent a decade in the state House.
As Senate vice chairwoman of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary, Candaras supported the judicial salary increases in 2013. "They're long overdue," Candaras said. "The judges in particular were the focus of the salary increase, and they had sought an increase for many years."
Candaras, who said she is taking time over the holidays to decide whether to run, said, "When professionals are looking at changing careers, the salary always enters into it. But is it dispositive in my case? No. I've had many opportunities in 18, 20 years of being in elected office to enhance my salary."
Seguin, before she took over as interim register of probate, was earning around $79,000 a year as an employee of the Probate & Family Court, where she had worked for 14 years, most recently as office manager and head administrative assistant.
Seguin has recently said she is seriously considering running for the seat in 2014. Asked whether the raise would make a difference, she said, "For me, I'm happy with making what I am making…It doesn’t really matter."
Bissonnette earns $85,000 as the mayor of Chicopee. Bissonette said generally, the salary increases could create more interest in court openings for those earning six figures in private practice. "Having salary ranges that are competitive may prompt more mid-career professionals to consider public service in the judicial branch," he said.
Mike BissonnetteBissonnette said for himself, "salary is not a consideration." Bissonette, a lawyer, said he took a substantial pay cut to become mayor. He said he is "thinking more along the lines of how the position would allow me to continue serving the public."
All three of the candidates would see significant pension boosts if they win the job. With eight years in public service, Bissonnette, who recently lost his bid for re-election, needs another two years as a public employee to become eligible for a public pension when he retires – something he will get if he becomes register of probate. Candaras would see a boost because of both her age and length of service – she would be over 70 when she finishes her first term, with more than 30 years in public service (counting her time in local government), so her pension benefit would likely be 80 percent of her salary. Seguin would also benefit due to her length of service, since she has already worked for
the court system for more than 30 years.
The salaries of Massachusetts judges were last increased in 2006. Adjusted for cost of living, judicial salaries ranked 49th out of all states plus the District of Columbia, according to the National Center for State Courts' 2013 survey of judicial salaries.
Michael Albano, a member of the Governor's Council and former Springfield mayor, who advocated for the judicial pay increases, said most of the discussion in the Legislature was about the need for higher judicial pay. The trickle down effect to clerks and registers of probate goes back to the 1970s, he said, when clerks and clerk magistrates had a strong lobby and were able to tie their salaries to judicial salaries. Under state law, clerk magistrates and registers of probate receive 81.57 percent of a chief justice's salary. Assistant clerks receive 77 percent of a clerk's salary and first assistants, 83.5 percent of a clerk's salary.
Albano said he does not think the clerks had the same need for a pay increase as judges. "Look at the ramifications relative to a clerk magistrate's responsibilities and one who sits on a bench. I'm not sure they're comparable," Albano said. "I don’t think there was any shortage of applicants for clerk magistrate. There was a shortage for judges."
The National Center for State Courts does not compare different states' salaries for clerks or registers of probate.
In 2008, a state commission recommended decoupling the salaries and giving a raise to judges but not clerks. However, neither the raise nor the decoupling of salaries passed.
This time, state Rep. Sean Curran, a Springfield Democrat and member of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary, said there was no discussion on the floor about raising the salary only for judges, not clerks.
"That’s the way it's been for years," Curran said.
http://www.masslive.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/12/candidates_for_hampden_county.html#incart_river?utm_source=ML+13%2F12%2F30&utm_campaign=20131230ML&utm_medium=email
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