Helen Gassel earns 30.4% more in 2019 working as a public employee in Berrien County

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By St. Joe-Benton Harbor News

Oct 31, 2021

Helen Gassel earned $27,948 in 2019, 30.4 percent more than the previous year, working as a public employee in Berrien County, according to the Michigan Government Salaries Database.

Donna Roark's compensation of $98,965 was the most as a public employee in Berrien County in 2019.

The data was gathered by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a nonprofit research and educational institute.

Top 100 highest paid public employees in 2019 in Berrien County

Rank	Employee	Employer	2019 amount earned	2018 amount earned	Percent Change
1	Donna Roark	Niles Public Schools	$98,965	$96,700	2.3%
2	Daniel Bartz	Berrien Springs Public Schools	$98,952	$96,031	3%
3	Gary Roberts	Lake Michigan College	$98,919	$98,423	0.5%
4	Michelle Stone	Lake Michigan College	$98,260	$96,581	1.7%
5	Janice Zerfas	Lake Michigan College	$97,681	$95,998	1.8%
6	David Armstrong	Watervliet Public Schools	$97,651	$95,651	2.1%
7	Steven Karsten	Lake Michigan College	$97,432	$96,881	0.6%
8	Gerry Cox	Lake Michigan College	$97,257	$98,280	-1%
9	Mark Kurland	Buchanan Community Schools	$96,205	$95,998	0.2%
10	Charles ButlerJr.	New Buffalo Area Schools	$96,090	$98,050	-2%
11	Elizabeth Ditto	New Buffalo Area Schools	$96,078	$75,814	26.7%
12	David Kelly	New Buffalo Area Schools	$95,844	$94,245	1.7%
12	Molly Brawley	Niles Public Schools	$95,844	$93,500	2.5%
14	Patrick Weckel	Brandywine Public Schools	$95,803	$93,940	2%
15	Gregg Schaffer	St. Joseph Public Schools	$94,370	$93,102	1.4%
16	Gregory Younger	Lakeshore Public Schools	$94,304	$93,540	0.8%
17	Brian Brown	River Valley School District	$93,946	$91,210	3%
17	Jonathan Swegles	Lakeshore Public Schools	$93,946	$81,779	14.9%
19	Patrick Breen	River Valley School District	$93,690	$92,085	1.7%
20	Tricia Lowery	Buchanan Community Schools	$93,421	$90,384	3.4%
21	Ellen Hasse	Berrien Springs Public Schools	$92,966	$91,168	2%
22	Bryan Parsons	St. Joseph Public Schools	$92,820	$87,629	5.9%
23	Joseph Fralick	St. Joseph Public Schools	$92,605	$86,064	7.6%
24	Jerald Holtgren	Niles Public Schools	$92,389	$90,800	1.7%
25	Natalie MacErata	Lakeshore Public Schools	$92,355	$90,615	1.9%
26	Lauri Berry	St. Joseph Public Schools	$92,248	$85,861	7.4%
27	James Wiseley	River Valley School District	$92,114	$87,706	5%
28	Thomas Skarbek	Niles Public Schools	$92,052	$90,300	1.9%
29	James Berry	St. Joseph Public Schools	$92,027	$87,238	5.5%
30	Kristen Pennington	Lakeshore Public Schools	$91,980	$90,615	1.5%
31	Alan Alsbro	Berrien Springs Public Schools	$91,897	$90,232	1.8%
32	Matthew Culver	St. Joseph Public Schools	$91,844	$83,800	9.6%
33	Lisa Price	New Buffalo Area Schools	$91,655	$81,764	12.1%
34	Joshua Hood	Brandywine Public Schools	$90,980	$86,076	5.7%
35	Gary Etter	St. Joseph Public Schools	$90,904	$86,681	4.9%
36	Jeffrey Yauchstetter	Lakeshore Public Schools	$90,782	$87,787	3.4%
37	Carole Fetke	Watervliet Public Schools	$90,433	$88,660	2%
38	Christopher Quartermaine	Lakeshore Public Schools	$90,150	$88,837	1.5%
39	Stacey Demaio	Buchanan Community Schools	$90,143	$87,418	3.1%
40	Kristen Bawks	St. Joseph Public Schools	$90,000	$92,837	-3.1%
41	Edward Lijewski	New Buffalo Area Schools	$89,888	$87,554	2.7%
42	Vance Price	New Buffalo Area Schools	$89,322	$84,644	5.5%
43	Shelley Hennen	Lake Michigan College	$89,025	$90,757	-1.9%
44	Heather Briney	St. Joseph Public Schools	$88,774	$83,927	5.8%
45	Edward Fidler	New Buffalo Area Schools	$88,747	$80,382	10.4%
46	Stacey Steffes	Lakeshore Public Schools	$88,725	$87,412	1.5%
47	Bryon Scoggin	Benton Harbor Area Schools	$88,519	$73,084	21.1%
48	Steven Spenner	Berrien Springs Public Schools	$88,300	$86,610	2%
49	Peter Olsen	Coloma Community Schools	$88,150	$86,422	2%
50	Nita Nicholie	St. Joseph Public Schools	$88,081	$84,744	3.9%
51	Pamela Kaniuga	River Valley School District	$87,855	$74,148	18.5%
52	Sara Ashley	Coloma Community Schools	$87,553	$76,500	14.4%
53	Lisa Knoll	New Buffalo Area Schools	$87,482	$80,571	8.6%
54	Kimberly Sherman	Lake Michigan College	$87,451	$94,520	-7.5%
55	Brian Samuel	Lakeshore Public Schools	$87,378	$85,258	2.5%
56	Frank Stijnman	Lake Michigan College	$87,327	$86,489	1%
57	Alaina Brady	St. Joseph Public Schools	$87,312	$70,965	23%
58	Kathryn Holy	Brandywine Public Schools	$87,050	$84,545	3%
59	Daniel Holloway	Buchanan Community Schools	$86,999	$74,767	16.4%
60	Lori Graves	Bridgman Public Schools	$86,974	$81,724	6.4%
61	Aaron Engleman	St. Joseph Public Schools	$86,717	$81,217	6.8%
62	Richard Eberly	New Buffalo Area Schools	$86,599	$79,890	8.4%
63	Mary Cooper	New Buffalo Area Schools	$86,579	$80,482	7.6%
64	Brenda Shepard	Lake Michigan College	$86,494	$86,462	0%
65	Adam Bowen	New Buffalo Area Schools	$86,350	$82,825	4.3%
66	Michael Miller	Bridgman Public Schools	$86,237	$84,581	2%
67	Philip Freeman	Lakeshore Public Schools	$176,400	$163,300	8%
68	Ann Cardon	St. Joseph Public Schools	$148,241	$138,257	7.2%
69	Daniel Applegate	Niles Public Schools	$144,475	$135,875	6.3%
70	David Eichberg	Berrien Springs Public Schools	$143,263	$140,454	2%
71	Jeffrey Leslie	New Buffalo Area Schools	$134,350	$132,025	1.8%
72	Julie Powell	Lakeshore Public Schools	$123,520	$121,360	1.8%
73	Shane Peters	Bridgman Public Schools	$123,047	$115,283	6.7%
74	Kathleen Hamilton	St. Joseph Public Schools	$122,038	$115,214	5.9%
75	Kevin Kreitner	Lake Michigan College	$121,403	$120,257	1%
76	Timothy Donahue	Buchanan Community Schools	$120,000	$120,000	0%
77	William Kearney	River Valley School District	$118,613	$115,158	3%
78	Franklin Sebastian	Berrien Springs Public Schools	$116,318	$112,500	3.4%
79	David Ehlers	Coloma Community Schools	$115,080	$104,730	9.9%
80	Michelle Allen	St. Joseph Public Schools	$114,651	$108,428	5.7%
81	Ann Marie	Eau Claire Public Schools	$113,711	$86,999	30.7%
82	Karen Weimer	Brandywine Public Schools	$112,950	$110,750	2%
83	Brandon Waggoner	Berrien Springs Public Schools	$112,500	$96,900	16.1%
84	Robert Kubiak	Berrien Springs Public Schools	$110,529	$105,029	5.2%
85	Ryan Pesce	Berrien Springs Public Schools	$110,389	$107,161	3%
86	Bradley Brunner	Lakeshore Public Schools	$108,475	$106,525	1.8%
87	Brian Barber	Berrien Springs Public Schools	$107,636	$106,593	1%
88	Samuel Stine	Bridgman Public Schools	$106,264	$100,110	6.1%
89	Kelly Gaideski	St. Joseph Public Schools	$105,636	$99,729	5.9%
90	Tracy Althouse	Lakeshore Public Schools	$105,324	$103,330	1.9%
91	Kevin Guzzo	St. Joseph Public Schools	$104,721	$98,799	6%
92	Craig Hubble	St. Joseph Public Schools	$104,651	$98,799	5.9%
93	Karla Hurlbutt	Buchanan Community Schools	$102,861	$102,864	0%
94	Lisa Augustyniak	Lake Michigan College	$102,538	$103,416	-0.8%
95	Gregory Blomgren	St. Joseph Public Schools	$102,000	$96,296	5.9%
96	Kenneth Dietz	Watervliet Public Schools	$101,541	$97,209	4.5%
97	Patricia Robinson	Benton Harbor Area Schools	$101,520	$126,819	-19.9%
98	Marla Clark	Lake Michigan College	$101,322	$100,365	1%
99	Dana Jenkins	Lake Michigan College	$101,058	$95,329	6%
100	Rebecca Hartley	New Buffalo Area Schools	$100,493	$91,936	9.3%