BY TOM GANTERT
Top administrators with Blackman Township received gross pay increases as high as 56% in 2020, a year when many private businesses in the township were shuttered due to the coronavirus.
Township Supervisor Peter Jancek had a gross pay increase from $24,000 in 2019 to $37,538 in 2020. That's a 56% increase.
Clerk Shelly Sercombe had a gross pay increase from $15,957 in 2019 to $24,224 in 2020. That's a 52% increase.
Treasurer Philip Preston had a gross pay increase from $12,850 in 2019 to $20,100 in 2010, also a 56% increase.
Many full-timers also enjoyed robust increases in gross pay.
That included:
| NAME | TITLE | 2019 | 2020 |
| Linda Arntz | Accountant | $77,633 | $81,254 |
| Stephanie Hinkle | Deputy Assessor | $60,943 | $69,512 |
| Bryan Powers | Building Inspector | $55,272 | $59,932 |
| Sherry Eva | Deputy Clerk | $54,777 | $59,983 |
| Harold Levy | Deputy Treasurer | $51,261 | $57,282 |
The salary information came from a Freedom of Information Act request sent to Blackman Township, which did not provide names with the list of salaries. Gross pay includes all forms of compensation for employees, such as overtime and bonuses.
In 2019, the township approved a compensation committee to review the salaries of elected officials. You can see that study by clicking HERE:
BLACKMAN TOWNSHIP $100K EMPLOYEES
| NAME | TITLE | 2019 | 2020 |
| Michael Jester | Director of Public Safety | 110,975 | $115,362 |
| Christopher Boulter | Deputy Director of Public Safety | $106,567 | $112,715 |
| James Prus | Sergeant | $89,422 | $109,384 |
| Richard Gillespie | Sergeant | $102,830 | $108,612 |
| Patrick Boulter | Public Safety Officer | $102,046 | $107,071 |
| Scott Grajewski | Deputy Director of Public Safety | $102,843 | $103,000 |
