The treasurer’s salary for 2026-29 was established at the Feb. 10 Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners meeting.

The board unanimously agreed to a 2% increase each year. The salary increases are $41,263 for 2026, $42,088 for 2027, $42,930 for 2028 and $43,789 for 2029. Commissioner Ken Snyder noted the township pays Treasurer Tina Koren $40,454, while the school district pays her $24,000. This equates to a $64,000 salary. He argued against a reduction in the salary.

“I don’t believe we should reduce the rate because of what’s happening,” Snyder said.

Commissioner Alberta Scarfaro said she was not opposed to a cost-of-living increase.

Koren’s seat as treasurer expires at the end of this year.

Commissioners Vice President Jeffrey Warren outlined the treasurer’s salary since 2006. Back in 2006, the treasurer’s salary was around $32,000. In 10 nonconsecutive years, there was no increase in the salary for the treasurer. The last time there were no increases was in 2021 and 2022. Since 2023, the treasurer has received a 2% increase in salary per year.

Commissioner Robert Piligian clarified this doesn’t mean the treasurer didn’t receive a raise for 10 years straight. It means there were some years since 2006 when the treasurer received an increase and some years when he or she didn’t.

The motion to set the treasurer’s salary for 2026-29 passed 5-0, with board President Thomas Slonaker abstaining from voting.

Before the vote, Slonaker said there is a lot less under the control of the treasurer than there was in the past.

The board also added an agenda item to vote on adding a referendum on the ballot to remove the treasurer position and replace it with a financial director. Snyder made a motion to add the referendum, but nobody made a second, so the matter did not move forward.

After the vote failed to go through, Snyder said he currently doesn’t have anyone in mind for the position of financial director.

A lengthy discussion followed, based on Snyder’s research on why this position should be replaced with a financial director and why the board should reconsider this for the future.

“What we have is what we have for the next five years,” Snyder said. “I don’t want to hear anyone sit down and say could have, should have or would have, because we’re stuck for five years under the current path of where the charter was written 52 years ago, as compared to what we’re dealing with today.”

The other commissioners added their input on why they didn’t want to go through with the motion for the referendum.

“For me, I would not vote for a referendum to be put into place because I think the voters voiced their opinion already, and it was just a year ago,” Scarfaro said. “Personally, for me, I don’t think it’s the time.”

Piligian reported he had supported the referendum the first time around but thought there wasn’t enough support at the time.

“I think your referendum idea is correct; it’s just not at this time,” he said. “As Commissioner Scarfaro said, it was voted on, and it wasn’t two years ago, it was about 18 months ago — November 2023. I just did not think there was the political will in this township to do that. The voters have spoken. I think we’re just beating a dead horse to bring this up over and over again.”

“I do think it would be a tough sell,” Warren said. “I don’t think we have the votes up here to move forward with it.”

Koren also commented on the referendum and spoke about the issues regarding the tax office.

“We are going to have to close the tax office again,” she warned. “I know it’s going to upset you, and I know it will upset the public. I would like the commissioners to sit down and change the charter, so I can have control of that office when I have two out of four out.”

Snyder responded to Koren that he has discussed this at meetings repeatedly and “nobody took the initiative to dig in as deep as I have.”

“Guess who’s outside the tax office window dealing with people screaming because they can’t pay their taxes? They don’t like this. So you get hit on social media. I deal with it every day,” Koren stated. “The tax office issue needs to be addressed now, not two years from now.”

In other news, Monica Chibber was successfully appointed to the Whitehall Township Environmental Advisory Council. The vote passed 5-1, with Scarfaro opposing. No reason was given for her vote.

Robin Ruhmel was reappointed to serve on the Whitehall Township Building Code of Appeals. The vote passed 5-0.

The board also voted 6-0 on approving the retirement and monthly pension benefits for Lt. Gregory Bealer of the Whitehall Township Police Department.

“I’d like to congratulate Lt. Bealer on his retirement. He was a valued member of the police department,” Whitehall Mayor Joseph Marx Jr. said. “I had a lot of respect for Greg. He was a great police officer, he was a great communicator, and he served us well for 28 years. So, kudos to Greg.”

“Every time I encountered Mr. Bealer, I saw the utmost professionalism, even in all of our staff. It makes me proud to know we have a great force,” Warren said.