The Lincoln Township Board of Trustees has taken another step toward the reorganization of local government.
At a Tuesday meeting, the board approved an organizational chart and pay structure for key township officials as it moves to bring in a township manager.
Currently, the township is managed on a day to day basis by the elected supervisor, but but with Supervisor Dick Stauffer stepping down at the end of this year, the idea arose to hire a professional manager. Stauffer tells us the entire board supports the change.
“That’s the way we need to go,” Stauffer said. “We have a 12-plus million dollar budget. It needs to be managed professionally and with assurance that we’ll have a good, capable manager.”
Stauffer has been supervisor for 20 years, and before that, he was a trustee for 16 years. He’s only running for trustee this year.
How’s it feel to know he’ll be the last supervisor to run day to day operations?
“Things change and it will be different. You know, there will be two months, probably at least a month or maybe two, where we’ll have a manager on board and I’ll be interfacing with him and showing him what I do on a daily and a monthly basis…But I’ll be back as a trustee.”
Trustee Marc Florian told us current state law only lays out limited responsibilities for the supervisor. So, when the new manager is brought in, the supervisor in Lincoln Township will only be required to preside over meetings, help develop the budget, and serve on the board.
The plan is to post the position of manager in June, hold interviews in August, and hire someone in September. Trustees on Tuesday also set a pay range for supervisor at $20,000 to $25,000 per year, and pay for the clerk and treasurer at between $40,000 and $60,000 per year. The manager will be paid around $120,000 per year.
