Prior to the Kalispell Public School board of trustees' approval of a $77.8 million budget for the 2022-23 school year Tuesday, members of the public objected to a recommendation to give the district’s top administrator a $10,000 raise.

The raise brings Superintendent Micah Hill’s salary to $172,530, not including benefits.

The salary increase represents a 4% bump and a 2% cost of living increase. Hill has served as superintendent since July 2020.

“The [percentage] increase in salary is similar to what the county has granted their management positions,” board Chair Sue Corrigan said at the Aug. 9 meeting. “... which will bring Micah’s salary up so at least he’s not the lowest paid out of all the AA superintendents. He’s above Belgrade.”

Corrigan also listed off some of Hill’s accomplishments and said his annual evaluation was good. She said he’s also secured grant funding to support the district. Corrigan and board Vice Chair Diane Morton Stout took the lead in researching salaries among county officials and other AA superintendents to arrive at the $10,000 amount.

Usually, salary negotiations are performed by the district’s human resource director, but that position remains open following Tracy Scott’s resignation in June. Corrigan said the strategy was to keep things as simple as it was unfamiliar territory.

“When we were looking at what makes sense for the type of raise, the fact that the county was looking at a 4% raise plus the COLA was why I was thinking, yes, this does fall in line with what we could do,” Morton Stout said. “I just really wish we had an HR director to deal with this, but I am very, very comfortable with what we’re landing on, but that’s my two cents.”

The recommendation went through the board finance committee as usual.

“Consistency is really important in this job,” Corrigan said when trustees briefly discussed retention and the salaries of past superintendents.

Trustees Heather Asher and Ursula Wilde asked about where the district stood in regard to teacher salaries compared to other AA districts and if their raises were in line with administrators’.

“In terms of teacher salaries, we’re definitely above the average in a variety of categories. We might be lower in starting pay, but finish much higher salary[wise],” Hill said, adding information about pay increases among other union and nonunion groups.

Trustee Lloyd Bondy said he was uncomfortable approving the raise following voters’ rejection of a $1.5 million high school levy in May.

“While we’re asking the public for money I think it’s hard to give out that significant of a raise,” Bondy said.

“Our job is to spend money on education,” Trustee Will Hiatt countered. “That’s why we’re on the board, We’re entrusted to know when there’s something really valuable and needs to be supported and that’s why we make our decisions. We’ve voted for increases for the teachers, for the custodians, for so many people over the last couple of years.”

PRIOR TO the board’s 7-3 vote, about nine people spoke during public comment, urging trustees against approving the raise. Objections centered around economic anxiety and speakers took pains to say their opposition did not stem from Hill’s work performance.

“I am only one person, but I’m sure I represent hundreds of Flathead taxpayers like myself,” audience member Heidi Roedel said. “A vote to increase the superintendent’s salary would not only hurt taxpayers this year but for years to come.

“In our current economic economy, it would be better to direct taxpayer money to teachers' salaries where it has a more direct effect on our students’ education. Giving higher wages, or hiring more teachers would show parents you care about their student's education. The superintendent already makes more than a liveable wage here in the Flathead. I implore the board to show students, parents and taxpayers that you care about education and put this $10,000 to better use,” she said.

Audience member Ann Ingram also spoke about a concern about wages among other positions in the district, even valley-wide.

“I have the utmost respect for Mr. Hill. I appreciate your service and I appreciate all the trustees. I know what it’s like to serve on a board without pay and have to answer to the public,” Ingram said. “That is a large salary. My experience with health care has been that when you pay your administrators a lot more than your base pay, for example, your teachers and other support staff, you tend to lose people, and when you lose good people with experience the quality of care, in this case the quality of education, goes down markedly.”

Audience member Tim Merklinger spoke to the challenges residents are facing in earning enough income to live in the valley.

“Eighteen years ago, when I moved here after I retired from the Marine Corps, I could afford my mortgage,” he said. “I could afford my electric bill, my water bill and I could pay my groceries and I had money left over. Fast forward to now … I am $75 in the hole to pay my mortgage because of how much my taxes have gone up. Luckily. I’m still young enough. I got another job.”

He urged trustees to survey their neighbors and see how much taxes had squeezed area residents.

“All of you just need to step back, take a few minutes, walk around your neighborhood, knock on doors. Especially talk to the elderly who can’t go out and get another $15 an hour job to help them get over the hump. It’s huge,” Merklinger said.

Like other speakers, Merklinger said he had no qualms about Hill’s performance as an administrator and even praised him. The region’s taxpayers, though, could not afford a pay raise, he argued. What other districts paid administrators mattered very little, he said.

“The trouble is the money’s not there,” Merklinger said. “I wish we had the money to give you a $10,000 raise. I wish we could give every teacher a $10,000 raise because they all deserve it, but even the company I work at now I can’t even get a 50-cent-an-hour raise because it’s not in the budget of the company I love and work for.”

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.