Part-time Registrar of Probate Tom Winsor says his $25,537 salary is low for such “time-consuming” work.
PARIS – Registrar of Probate Tom Winsor has received a cool reception to his pitch for a bigger paycheck.
Winsor, who replaced longtime Registrar Ted Tracy a year ago, recently told Oxford County commissioners that the present salary of $25,537 ranks low-to-mid-average when compared to other counties in Maine.
Winsor said a $28,303 salary better reflects the responsibility that comes with the elected position. He said the raise could be covered by a combination of grants that he would seek and an increase in the cost for copies of probate records.
“I was recruited. I had no idea the job was as complicated as it was,” Winsor said. Serving as part-time registrar of probate, he said, is “significantly more time-consuming” than he expected.
Commissioners, trying for compromise, agreed to raise his pay to $26,926, the same salary as Jane Rich’s. She is registrar of deeds for the eastern part of the county.
The commissioners’ recommendation still needs to be approved by the Budget Committee at its work session Nov. 13.
Commissioner Steve Merrill conceded that the salaries of elected officials in Oxford County are probably not up to par and need to be reviewed in the coming year.
“Very rarely do we take a real close overview of elected officials’ salaries,” Merrill said. The pay for non-elected officials is reviewed more often as part of salary contract negotiations.
Merrill and Commissioner Fred Kennard agreed it wouldn’t be fair to bump up Winsor’s salary until all the salaries of elected officials are reviewed.
“We want to treat everyone equally,” Merrill said.
Oxford County Sheriff Lloyd “Skip” Herrick ranks among the lowest-paid sheriffs in the state, at a salary of $41,906. He agrees that the county needs to “maintain par” to attract and keep qualified people in the county’s elected jobs of sheriff, registrar of probate and county commissioner.
“Out of 16 (sheriffs), I am the 13th or 14th lowest-paid,” Herrick said. “But I have to do the job.”
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