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A Right-to-Know request filed by the Sun-Gazette to obtain specific salaries of three county employees has been partially granted by the county government.
At their March 10 meeting, the Lycoming County Commissioners approved new job titles for positions and in some cases changes in pay grades for employees in the Information Services Department.
At the time the county refused to release the specific salaries but did disclose salary ranges for the positions based on pay grades.
The salary figures sought by the Sun-Gazette involved employees whose pay grades had been raised to 11, which has a salary range of $55,818.82 to $82,776.05.
The salary information released by the county following the request included: director of elections and registration, $58,106.27; and senior software analyst, $66,877.68.
Information was also requested on the salary of the Senior Technology Administrator, but that was denied as the position has not been filled.
In an email to the Sun-Gazette, county officials initially cited Personally Identifiable Information (PII), information that makes a person easily identifiable, for the reason to not release specific salary amounts.
Melissa Melewsky, media law counsel at the PA NewsMedia Association, responded to that argument.
"I've been in this role for nearly 16 years, and I have never advised a media organization not to publish public employee salary information because it's 'personally identifiable information' or 'PII;' that's not even a defined term" under the right-to-know law, Melewsky said. "On the contrary, I regularly make clear that public employee name, job title, salary, employment contract, length of service, and any other payments are expressly public under the Right to Know law, section 708(b)(6). The county has a legal duty to provide access to this information, the press has a Constitutional right to publish public information such as public employee salary information, and you are well within your rights to do so. It's also worth noting that the public has a right to learn this information from you without government interference."
"Additionally, it is important to note that PA law expressly requires the state-level agencies to provide this kind of public information proactively via the PennWATCH system where you can see exactly how much each state employee earns," Melewsky continued. "The PennWATCH act recognizes that the public has a right to know how its money is spent, and because access to public employee salary information is so important, the law places an affirmative legal duty on state agencies to provide it via PennWATCH, even if no one requests it. Public access -- and the accountability that flows from it -- is no less important at the county level."