Now that Pulaski County Chief Deputy Coroner Jon Frain has finally gotten his pay raise, county officials now have to figure out where the money is going to come from. Last month, the county council voted to pay the chief deputy 82 percent of the coroner’s salary, which more than quadrupled Frain’s pay rate to almost $8,100 a year. While the Coroner’s Office had about $8,000 budgeted for that purpose in previous years, that figure had been cut to match Frain’s previous pay rate.
During last week’s council meeting, Coroner John Behny asked for some direction on where to get the necessary money from. “I have a couple options,” he explained. “Either A, transfer from three or four different line items in order to meet that dollar amount, or you could also advertise for a public hearing for an additional.”
Council members preferred going with the transfer, although Behny noted that an additional appropriation may still eventually be needed. A formal transfer request is expected to go before the county council next month.
