Recordpub.com - County payroll available online

By Matt Fredmonsky

Record-Courier staff writer

The Record-Courier has added a new database feature to its online edition, Recordpub.com, so readers can search through large public records requests.

Beginning today, readers of the paper will be able to search salaried and hourly wage information for all of Portage County's approximately 1,300 employees in an online version of the county's payroll spreadsheet.

The interactive Web database provides information for each county job position by job title, department or office. Pay rates are provided, when available, by hourly rates or annual salaries. Employees are not identified by name.

Some salaries do not reflect an employee's total pay, as the county-provided information only details numbers on the amount of a salary paid by the county.

For example, the county's three municipal, two common pleas, one probate and domestic relations court judges receive a portion of their compensation from the state.

Portage County's three municipal court judges receive $61,750 annually from the county, with the administrative judge receiving an additional $1,500. The judges are also paid $52,350 from the state for a total salary of $114,100. Common pleas judges receive $14,000 from the county and $107,350 from the state for a total salary of $121,350.

Other county positions are listed in the database as receiving no hourly or salary pay because of a monthly pay distribution.

Two of Portage County's jury commissioners receive $125 a month, and the county's five Veterans Service Commissioners are paid $350 each month. The R-C database will reflect an employee's total pay in these instances.

The database also provides salary information for the county's numerous elected officials, which include the county sheriff, prosecutor and commissioners. Pay rates for county officials in 2008 are defined, based in part by population, in Ohio House Bill 712, which was passed in December 2000.

Click this link to search now:

http://recordpub.com/news/template/Portage_County_Salaries

The information was obtained through a public records request filed with the Portage County Auditor's Office. The employee listing is updated regularly by clerks in the auditor's office, as county personnel fluctuate and salaries change with pay raises and contract negotiations. The payroll figures are accurate through the end of July.

The data is posted online by a program called Caspio Bridge provided by Mountain View, Calif., based Caspio, which is under contract with Record Publishing Co. The company provides digital media products for newspapers, magazines and other media.

This year, Caspio partnered with Hearst Newspapers to provide interactive online databases for the company's 12 daily and 31 weekly newspapers, including the San Francisco Chronicle.

The Record-Courier plans to continue expansion of its online databases at Recordpub.com in the future by providing salary and other information for the county's municipalities and school districts.