Salary figures for York County government reveal that the criminal justice system – except the courts, which are primarily funded by the state – accounts for the lion’s share of the county’s payroll.
The 2022 payroll figures – obtained under an open records request – show that the county employed 2,058 people, and the median salary was $51,584. The total county payroll in 2022 was nearly $214 million.
Of that total, the county spent more than $52.4 million on its role in the criminal justice system. The York County Prison accounts for most of that, with an annual payroll of more than $33.1 million.
The York County District Attorney’s office’s payroll was more than $8.5 million, the sheriff’s department $7.2 million, and the public defender’s office $3.6 million. (The sheriff’s department provides a variety of services, and some are not entirely related to court operations, such as issuing gun permits and conducting sheriff sales ordered by the court.)
In short, York County spends more than half of its payroll on incarcerating, prosecuting and defending criminal defendants.
By contrast, the county spent more than $8.8 million to staff Children, Youth and Families and more than $8.5 million on mental health and disability services. The Agency on Aging’s payroll was about $4.1 million and the office of Veterans Affairs accounted for $339,261 in salaries.
Among the departments with the lowest payroll costs were smaller ones such as Agriculture Land Preservation ($182,277), Weights and Measures ($65,002) and Communications ($60,622).
Salaries for the prison’s full-time corrections officers – represented by Local 776 of the Teamsters union – ranged from $49,504 to $72,238. Children, Youth and Family caseworkers – represented by the Pennsylvania Social Services Union, Local 668 of the Service Employees International Union – earn between $37,356 and $41,142. There were corrections officers who earned more than casework supervisors in Children, Youth and Family.
Highest and lowest
The highest-paid county employees in 2022 were:
- York County District Attorney Dave Sunday: 196,119 a year
- County CEO/Chef Clerk Greg Monskie: $150,000
- Chief Public Defender Bruce Blocher: $142,093
- Information Technology Executive Director Joseph Sassano: $139,897
- Human Resources Director Kristy Bixler: $132,690.
- County Solicitor Michelle Pokrifka: $130,965.
- First Assistant Public Defender Clasina Houtman: $127,314.
- First Assistant District Attorney Tim Barker: $125,312.
- County CFO Tyler Chronister: $125,000.
Among the lowest-paid employees were custodians at the York County Judicial Center and clerks in the Elections Office, who earn $23,900. There are other employees who earn less, but they are either part-timers or seasonal workers hired by the Parks Department.
The salary figures were first obtained by a tech company called Synaptix, which sued to gain access to the information and posted the information on a website called OpenPayrolls. The York Daily Record obtained the salary information independently after Synaptix won its suit earlier this year.
Columnist/reporter Mike Argento has been a York Daily Record staffer since 1982. Reach him at mike@ydr.com.
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