Annual stipends for newly elected Allegheny Township supervisors will increase from $2,500 to $4,190 following a 2-1 board vote Wednesday morning.
Supervisors Jamie Morabito and Jeff Pollick voted at a special meeting Wednesday morning to adjust compensation by $1,690 annually for new supervisors, citing the state’s Act 94, which allowed second-class townships to increase elected officials’ salaries if they choose. Supervisor Mike Korns was opposed.
Township Manager Dan Miller clarified that, for now, incoming Supervisor Frank Weissert will be the only elected official earning the $4,190 in 2026. Morabito and Pollick’s compensation will remain at $2,500 and that would only increase should they choose to run for re-election and win.
Miller said the $1,690 difference was not budgeted for 2026, but he does not anticipate there being an impact to the budget.
Weissert didn’t immediately return a request for comment Wednesday.
Allegheny Township is one of 13 second-class townships in the Alle-Kiski Valley. Nearby, Washington Township pays supervisors a $2,500 annual stipend, and Upper Burrell supervisors earn $1,500 per year.
Gilpin in 2021 voted to eliminate Supervisors pay in an effort to save money, which took effect gradually, officials said at the time. Before then, supervisors made $50 per month.
Lower Burrell, a third-class city, maintains a $3,400 salary for its mayor and $2,800 for council members.
Nearly all of the eight public speakers Wednesday expressed concerns with the timing of the 9 a.m. special meeting on New Years Eve, and the lack of transparency in the process. They highlighted the township’s financial struggles, including staffing challenges and deferred maintenance, and the implementation of a stormwater fee enacted on property owners.
“Why are we rushing to put this high compensation structure in place when the township already struggles financially?” said Liane Newell, Allegheny Township’s elected auditor. “My intent today is not to criticize individuals, it’s to ensure transparency, accuracy, responsibility (and) decision making with our taxpayer dollars.”
Resident David Lloyd said he didn’t deny anyone a deserving raise, but questioned the board’s timing.
“I think if we all have to suck up the stormwater tax, maybe whoever’s in for the raise, maybe you can suck it up and wait a while until we get things turned around a little more,” he said.
Resident Charles Schachte supported the raise, saying supervisors have improved the township through business growth and development over the past years.
Morabito said that, when Act 94 was passed in Dec. 2024, he assumed it went into effect for township supervisors. He said it was not until the weekend before Christmas that he learned the township would have to approve an ordinance and, for it to take effect by the time Weissert took office, it needed to be approved by the year’s end.
Morabito also said both candidates for supervisor believed they would get a $4,190 salary.
“I do agree that it is a weird timing, no question about it,” Morabito said. “Do I believe the new supervisor coming in deserves that $1,600 difference for the year? Yes, I do. This has been this way for x amount of years, and I think it’s like the fire departments and everywhere else, getting people to want to do this is getting slim to none, and good help is hard to come by. And I feel that now we have a really good board, and with a good board, we can move forward.”
Korns, who didn’t seek reelection and whose last meeting was Wednesday, said he only learned of the special meeting when a resident brought it up to him.
He agreed with residents’ calls for transparency, and suggested tying pay to meeting attendance. Korns also agreed that the board — even when he disagrees with the others — work tirelessly in their role.
“I have no problem with it if it’s done properly, and that is through full transparency and everyone knowing about it, everyone having a chance to come and speak for or against it,” he said.
Pollick, who attended the meeting by phone, said the supervisors’ job is year-round and consumes many hours, personal time sacrifices and gasoline.
“You are not working for pennies a day, you’re working basically for free,” Pollick said.