Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners voted May 12, at a very short meeting, to increase the amount of compensation payable for the board of commissioners to $7,000 annually. The motion passed 7-0.

The current rate for the township commissioners is $4,125 annually, a rate that has been in effect since 2004, according to Deputy Mayor Jack Meyers.

“It was believed that the present level of compensation was not commensurate with the obligations and duties of the office,” Meyers said about the pay increase for the commissioners.

Only the newly elected commissioners after the 2025 election will see the increased pay rate. These include those elected to the three vacancies following the upcoming local election for November. The seats currently occupied by Commissioners Thomas Slonaker, Alberta Scarfaro and Philip Ginder are up for election this year.

The remaining four seats are not up for election until 2027. Those commissioners wouldn’t see the pay increase until their reelection that year, should they decide to run again. These seats are currently occupied by Commissioners Randy Atiyeh, Elizabeth Fox, Ken Snyder and Jeffrey Warren.

In other business, the board also voted on a resolution to approve the retirement and commencement of monthly pension benefits to Jeffrey Bruchak, a former lieutenant detective with Whitehall Township Police Department. The vote passed unanimously.

Mayor Joseph R. Marx thanked Bruchak for his service and spoke about him at the meeting.

“I just want to thank Officer Bruchak for his service with the Whitehall police department. He retired as chief of detectives, and he did a stellar job for us,” Marx said.