County Government Continues to Grow Under New Board

MANATEE COUNTY – In eleven months' time, Manatee County Government has seen some significant reorganization. The county's Department of Administration has grown by 14 additional positions, while the combined total of authorized positions across all departments has increased by 168.

In early March, TBT reported on the reorganization of the county commission departments and their employees. The undertaking is being led by Manatee County’s newest County Administrator Scott Hopes. Hopes provided commissioners a presentation of the new organizational chart which included the renaming of two departments, rearrangements of some divisions within departments, and the elimination of one department entirely.

The Building and Development Services department received a new shortened name of Development Services, and the Department of Neighborhood Services is now the Department of Community and Veterans Services. The former department of Redevelopment and Economic Opportunity (REO) has been done away with, and its divisions and some employees have been reassigned to other departments.

Despite the county downsizing from its previous 12 departments to the reorganized 11 under the Department of County Administration, Manatee County Government, overall, has grown.

The departments currently under the county commission include the Department of Administration and its 11 organized departments: Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB), Utilities, Public Works, Parks & Natural Resources, Property Management, Community and Veteran Services, Development Services, Financial Management, Human Resources, Information Technology (IT), and Public Safety.

According to public records obtained by TBT, in April of 2021, there were 2,382 authorized positions that existed across the previous 12 departments and the Department of Administration. Some 1,990 of those positions were filled in April of 2021, and 392 were vacant. Currently, there are 2,550 authorized positions total and 535 vacancies.

Some county departments have grown more than others regardless of the new positions created, due to the reorganization effort which moved divisions from one department to another. For example, the division of code enforcement previously existed under the department of Development Services. Now the division and its staff reside under the Department of Public Safety.

With the department of Redevelopment & Economic Opportunity being disbanded, its divisions have been relocated under two separate departments. The division of economic development has been placed under the Department of County Administration, and the division of community development has been moved to the newly named Community & Veterans Services department.

The division of records management, which previously fell under the Department of Property Management, now resides under the Department of County Administration.

The Department of County Administration has grown by 14 positions. These positions include two additional deputy county administrators, ten record management employees and two mail couriers moved from Property Management, and four newly authorized commissioner aides.

Previously, the department had two deputy county administrators and three executive assistants to commissioners. While four commissioner aides were added to the department, two of the previous executive assistant positions remain. Each of the newly created commissioner assistant positions is compensated at an hourly rate of $22.48.

Two of the four newly created deputy administrator positions are filled by employees who also serve as department directors. The county's Chief Financial Officer, Jan Brewer, serves both as the director of the Department of Financial Management and as deputy administrator–along with being CFO. Charles Bishop, the previous and current director of Property Management has also been assigned as a deputy administrator. However, both receive a salary based on their higher positions of deputy administrator, rather than their roles as department directors.

While one deputy county administrator position is vacant, of the three filled, each is receiving a base salary of roughly $182,000. The third, Robert Reinshuttle, is the newest deputy hire. He was hired by the county in June of 2021 and is receiving the same rate of pay as his peers of the same title–though he is serving only as deputy administrator and not also as a department director.

Under the county's previous organization, former County Administrator Cheri Coryea had two Deputy Administrators, Karen Stewart and John Osborne. Stewart assumed acting county administrator after Coryea's departure. The county's current deputy administrators receive 8.9 percent over their pay grade's mid-range, while Stewart and Osborne received a salary roughly 5 percent above the position's pay grade mid-range while they served as deputy county administrators.

Despite the Department of Property Management losing the record management division and mail couriers to the reorganization that placed these divisions under the Department of Administration, Property Management has added an additional 24 authorized positions.

In April of 2021, the Department of Property Management consisted of 215 authorized positions, of which 20 were vacant. As of March 2022, the department has 239 authorized positions with 47 of those vacant.

Of the eleven departments, one remains without a department director. Sometime between August and September of 2021, the former director, Kim Stroud, was relieved of her duties. Roughly seven months later, the department is under the direction of its acting director, HR Manager Julie Basset.

Among the other departments, seven have retained the same directors as under the previous administration and two received new hires in 2022.

The Director of Development Services, Courtney De Pol, and the Director of Information Technology (IT), Andrew Richardson, are both new to Manatee County Government. The newly created Department of Community and Veteran Services was assigned a director who formerly worked in the county as a Veteran Services Officer. While his role as director is new, Leroy Washington began his work with Manatee County Government in 2009.

In the fall of 2021, Manatee County adopted the FY22 Budget. The budget included an approval to increase county pay grade ranges–or "pay levels"–by 3.9 percent. Additionally, every employee under the county commission received a 3.9 percent wage increase. TBTfirst reported on the wage increases and pay level adjustments in January of this year, and again in follow-up storieshere and here.

Pay grades have three ranges, or "levels," a minimum base pay for the position's pay grade, the mid-range base pay, and the maximum base pay for the position. The county administrator's position is assigned to pay grade 14, a deputy administrator's position is in pay grade 12, and a department director's position is assigned to pay grade 11.

Based on the current pay grades and ranges as of the adjustments made in the fall of 2021, the majority of the county's department directors receive a base salary that is above their pay grade's mid-range of $71.35 per hour.

Currently, the highest-paid department director in Manatee County Government is the director of Parks & Natural Resources. Charles Hunsicker has been employed by the county since 1991. Currently, he receives 18 percent over his pay grade's base salary mid-range.

The second-highest earner among county department directors oversees the Department of Public Works. The directors of Public Works and Utilities both receive 12 percent and 10 percent above their pay grade mid-range, respectively. The director of Public Works has been with Manatee County Government since 2007 and the director of Utilities was first hired by the county in 1984.

The newly hired director of IT, Andrew Richardson, is the third-highest paid director, receiving a base salary that is 11 percent above his position's pay grade mid-range. Richardson’s predecessor was previously the highest-paid department director, earning 20 percent above the mid-range.

Courtney De Pol, a 2022 hire to the position of Development Services director, is the next highest-paid director in the county. De Pol receives 7.8 percent above her position's mid-range.

The lowest earners among directors are in the departments of the Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB), Public Safety, and the newly reorganized Community & Veteran Services.

Elliot Falcione, the director of CVB, was first hired by the county in 1993. Falcione earns 4 percent over his pay grade's mid-range.

The director of Public Safety, Jacob Saur, has been with the county government since 2001. Saur earns 1 percent below the director's position mid-range. Partly due to the reorganization, the Department of Public Safety has grown by 59 positions–the most of any department. It now includes responsibility for the division of health services, which formerly fell under Community & Veterans Services, as well as the aforementioned division of code enforcement moved from Development Services.

Based on records provided by the county payroll department, Leroy Washington is the lowest earner amongst all the county's department directors. The former Veteran Services Officer promoted to director of the newly reorganized Department of Community & Veteran Services, receives significantly less than his position peers. Washington earns 17 percent below a director's pay grade mid-range.

It is important to note that while public records show the numbers, there are other considerations that go into deciding an employee's initial salary for their position and any subsequent wage increases. A director's tenure, resume, qualifications, as well as responsibilities within the department, are likely to factor into the employee's set wage.

Concerning growth, 10 current departments have added authorized positions. The departments of IT and Financial Management have created minimal additional employee positions, while the departments of Public Safety, Public Works, and Property Management have each grown by more than 20. The Department of Development Services–which decreased by eight authorized positions–was the only county department among the 11 to have reduced its total authorized positions.

Though not included among the 11 departments under the county commission, the County Attorney’s Office decreased by three positions. In April of 2021, records show, there were 27 authorized positions in the Attorney’s Office. In March of 2022, there were 24.

Below is a breakdown of authorized positions added to each of the current 11 departments since April of 2021. These figures are current as of March 10, 2022, and include current position vacancies within each department, as well as a comparison to its 2021 figures.

April 2021 – 164 authorized positions 112 vacancies

March 2022- 165 authorized positions 110 vacancies

April 2021 – 440 authorized positions 25 vacancies

March 2022- 449 authorized positions 32 vacancies

April 2021 – 495 authorized positions 42 vacancies

March 2022- 529 authorized positions 78 vacancies

April 2021 – 191 authorized positions 87 vacancies

March 2022- 209 authorized positions 114 vacancies

April 2021 – 215 authorized positions 20 vacancies

March 2022- 239 authorized positions 47 vacancies

April 2021 – 168 authorized positions 31 vacancies

March 2022- 174 authorized positions 36 vacancies

April 2021 – 160 authorized positions 14 vacancies

March 2022- 152 authorized positions 18 vacancies

April 2021 – 32 authorized positions 2 vacancies

March 2022- 36 authorized positions 5 vacancies

April 2021 – 25 authorized positions 4 vacancies

March 2022- 31 authorized positions 5 vacancies

April 2021 – 76 authorized positions 2 vacancies

March 2022- 77 authorized positions 4 vacancies

April 2021 – 333 authorized positions 43 vacancies

March 2022- 392 authorized positions 73 vacancies