With just 675 residents, the tiny borough of Picture Rocks operates on a small budget.

Maintenance and highway operations are contracted out, and payroll is all but non-existent.

“I’m the only full-time employee,” said Bill Dorman, who serves as secretary-treasurer.

Dorman works just 22 hours a week and is paid $17,900 per year.

With a yearly operating budget in 2014 of $173,735, Dorman’s salary comprises a very small percentage of the borough’s overall expenses.

Contrast Picture Rocks with Montoursville, a borough of 4,615 people, according to 2010 U.S. Census figures.

Montoursville’s 2014 budget of $1.9 million includes salaries and wages for 17 full-time employees and six part-time employees, according to figures secured by the Sun-Gazette as part of a Right to Know request.

“I think the overall payroll is top heavy with too much management,” said Montoursville Borough Councilman Dennis Holt.

Holt noted that the police department has both a chief and a deputy chief with annual salaries of $62,857 and $56,631, respectively.

Borough records reveal that the police department includes hourly wages of $25.93 for two full-time patrolmen and $18.85 for a police secretary.

The borough also pays hourly wages of between $16.37 and $17 for six part-time police officers.

Holt has no problem with the size of the police department.

The streets and water department is another matter.

“I think we need to eliminate two positions in streets and water,” he said. “We are top heavy.”

The borough has in place a water/street commissioner who receives an annual salary of $58,406, according to records.

A chief water operator is paid $25.80 per hour; two water operator foremen make $24.15 per hour and $19.25 per hour, respectively.

An operator assistant foreman is paid $21.01 per hour and three other operators have hourly wages ranging from $17.50 to $19.95.

The borough had a water fund budget of $822,720 for 2014. The borough sells much of its water to gas drilling companies.

Holt noted that Montoursville, unlike many boroughs, does not have in place a borough manager.

Many of those duties are carried out by the secretary/treasurer who makes $53,872 per year.

“My concern is the payroll is so high that we aren’t getting any infrastructure done,” Holt said. “I’d like to see more projects get done. Employees have to realize that the people paying their wages don’t make near as much money as they do.”

Councilwoman Rosemary Holmes noted that salaries are the borough’s biggest expense.

“We want to be fair to our employees, but also fair to our taxpayers,” she said. “I think that working for the borough is very desirable employment. We have an excellent benefits package. I think they are very fairly paid. We definitely want to work with our employees to provide necessary services to our community.”

South Williamsport’s $2 million budget for 2014 covers 20 full-time and three part-time employees.

The highest annual salaries are paid to the police chief, $62,629; borough administrator, $59,050, and the public works superintendent, $50,986.

Yearly earnings of other salaried employees are: borough treasurer, $33,716; assistant treasurer, $21,382; and receptionist/secretary, $22,048.

Police department positions pay the following: sergeant, $25.82 per hour; corporal, $24.67 per hour, four officers, $29.39 per hour average, and police secretary, $11.50 per hour.

Public works and sewer department positions pay the following hourly wages: street foreman, $22.53; laborer, $12.42; operator 1, $21.85; operator 2, $19.23; operator 3, $17.81; and sewer administrative, $10.

The borough also pays a codes/zoning officer $18.27 per hour and three-part-time park workers $10 per hour. Eight crossing guards employed by the borough make $9.68 per shift.

Borough Council President Bernard Schelb said the borough runs on a tight budget and has good employees who are paid fairly.

“Nobody sits around wondering what they are going to do,” he said. “They are all busy.”

He had special praise for the police department which often has its hands full with drug arrests and other crimes and investigations.

Schelb said the department needs all the officers it employs.

“I think so because, unless you walk in a policeman’s shoes, you don’t know what they are up against,” he said. “There are drug cases they work on. I think overall we are pleased with leadership there.”

Schelb noted that it became necessary to make the part-time secretary a full-time position in recent years.

Other moves have included employing a full-time codes/zoning officer.

“We used to contract that (work) out but didn’t get the full benefit of the needs,” he said. “We used to be backed up with that stuff. You have to have someone out there who is on top of things. We don’t have a lot of construction going on. But there are a lot of rental inspections.”

Schelb acknowledged that borough government has grown just a bit over the years, but rarely have taxes been increased in the past two decades.

“We have made several changes. We are constantly looking for ways to save the borough money,” he said.

Police personnel received 3-percent wage increases in 2014 while public works employees were granted pay hikes of 50 cents per hour.

Other boroughs in the county operate under smaller budgets with fewer employees.

Hughesville, with an $833,205 budget, employs six full-time and seven part-time employees.

Hourly wages for full-time workers range from $15.75 for a borough street worker to $23.08 for the borough’s single full-time police officer.

The borough’s five part-time police officers are paid $17.55 per hour. Hughesville’s single part-time laborer is paid $10.75 per hour.

Earlier this year, borough council voted to give former Police Chief Jason Gill an involuntary honorable discharge due to permanent disability related to an in-the-line-of-duty injury. He was making $22.41 per hour as a full-time chief.

In Muncy, the budget is $802,210 and includes a payroll for seven full-time employees.

The police chief earns the highest annual salary at $51,000.

The borough treasurer’s yearly salary amounts to $36,000 and the borough secretary’s salary is $31,000.

Muncy employs two full-time street workers at $15.97 per hour and $13 per hour.

The borough has in place two full-time police officers who are paid hourly wages of $19.75 and $16.50.

Three part-time officers are paid between $16 per hour and $17.50 per hour.

A part-time borough manager makes $20 per hour.

Five crossing guards employed by the borough receive hourly wages of $16.

The borough of Montgomery has in place a 2014 operating budget of $561,905 which includes the payroll for five full-time employees and nine part-time employees.

The full-time employees and their earnings are: borough manager, $26.33 per hour; one police officer, $20.73 per hour; and three other non-uniformed borough employees who each make $19.20 per hour.

The borough’s six part-time police officers’ hourly wages range from $15 to $19.40 per hour.

Jersey Shore’s $1.5 million budget includes $306,411 payroll.

The borough’s only full-time salaried employee is the borough manager who makes $48,000 per year.

Eight other full-time borough employees are paid hourly. They are: public works supervisor, $47,985; public works supervisor, $41,662; police clerk, $38,272; office manager, $36,420; labor/equipment operator 1, $32,843; labor/equipment operator 2, $30,350; and administrative assistant, $23,400.

A part-time custodian makes $3,460 annually and a zoning officer is paid $4,017 a year.

Jersey Shore no longer has its own police department. However, the borough shares expenses with neighboring Porter Township for the operation of the Tiadaghton Valley Regional Police Department.

A police budget of $937,052 covers the annual salaries for each of five police positions. They are: chief, $54,590; captain, $54,148; sergeant, $47,483; patrolman second class, $43,754; and patrolman, $32,000. In addition, five police officers with the rank of patrolman first class each earn $44,795 per year.

Old Lycoming Township has 23 full-time employees and one part-time worker.

The township’s $3.25 million spending plan includes $972,871 budgeted for salaries.

The police chief is the highest paid employee, making $57,374 annually.

Under the chief are nine full-time police officers with annual salaries of between $37,128 and $51,272. One part-time staff officer makes $4,795 annually.

Other salaries include: manager/secretary, $49,296; bookkeeper/treasurer, $45,448; administrative assistant, $31,096; zoning officer, $28,080; sewer department superintendent, $49,920; sewer enforcement officer, $43,014; operator/mechanic/inspector, sewer department, $41,974; laborer, sewer department, $29,744; billing clerk, sewer department, $34,008; scheduling clerk, sewer department, $31,616; superintendent, public works, $49,920; operator/mechanic/inspector, public works, $41,974; laborer, public works, $29,744.

Loyalsock Township’s highest salary of $88,845 goes to the township manager/treasurer.

Other salaries are as follows: public works director, $57,200; parks and recreation director, $48,400; building inspector, $54,900; township secretary, $42,250; zoning officer, $41,500; receptionist, $16.64 per hour.

The township also employs eight full-time unionized highway and maintenance workers who make $23.18 per hour.

Loyalsock Township has no police department.

The township’s 2014 general fund budget was $3.837 million.

Woodward Township employs just one full-time worker, a road superintendent who makes $748 per week. That translates to a yearly paycheck of $38,901.

The rest of the township’s personnel are part-time workers with the following hourly wages: secretary/treasurer, $14.37; zoning officer, $13.52; skilled laborer, $12.77; and laborer, $9.75.

Woodward Township had an operating budget of $315,079 for 2014. The township has no police department.

Muncy Township’s budget is $680,471.

Wages for full-time employees are as follows: chief of police, $27 per hour; manager of public works, $19 per hour; secretary/treasurer, $15.25 per hour.

The township has one part-time employee listed as work supervisor/labor at $20 per hour.