The Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners, by a razor thin 4-3 vote, approved increasing the annual salary for the township treasurer, effective in 2014 and running through 2017.

The present annual salary for the treasurer is $35,215. The person in the position of treasurer following the November election will receive a 2-percent pay increase in 2014, 1 percent in 2015, 2 percent in 2016 and 1 percent in 2017.

While the board members agreed current Treasurer Diane Hunsicker is performing her duties well, they indicated they are setting the salary for the position, not the person.

Voting in favor of the increase were Commissioners President Linda Snyder and Commissioners Clair Hunsberger, Dennis Hower and Paul Geissinger. Voting in opposition were Commissioners Philip Ginder, Gerard Palagonia and Thomas Slonaker, a former township treasurer.

A week earlier at the workshop meeting, Hunsicker said he was in favor of keeping the treasurer's pay the same. However, he changed his mind, he said.

Ginder led the argument opposing the pay hike.

"This is not an employee. This is an elected position," Ginder said, adding Granting such a raise is not fair when families are struggling to keep a job and a roof over their heads.

Ginder added the present salary does not account for what the school district allots for the office of treasurer and payment for tax certificates, which adds to the compensation.

"It's fair, not outrageous," Ginder said of the present pay structure for the treasurer.

The township is required to set the salary for the office the year the position appears on the ballot. The person elected to the office cannot be given a pay hike during her or his term in office.

The treasurer's salary now amounts to $57,000, not including tax certificates, when taking into account the other revenue sources, according to Geissinger. He said he believes the board should give the same increases for treasurer as it did for the office of mayor – three years with no salary increases during a four-year-term in office.