The Coos County Airport District's executive director is being paid about 30 percent more than he was two years ago.

At its November meeting, the Coos County Airport District Board of Directors voted unanimously to increase Gary LeTellier's annual salary from $86,409 to $100,000, a 15.7-percent hike. The move came after he received an exceptional rating by the five-member board during his annual evaluation.

The pay increase took effect Dec. 1.

“We felt like it was a pretty good amount - no doubt about that,” said Clair Jones, chairman of the airport district board.

A year before, after another outstanding rating, the board voted to bump up LeTellier's pay from $77,250 to $86,409 - representing a 11.8 percent increase.

The pay raises equate to a 29.5 percent hike in the two-year span.

While board members rewarded LeTellier for his exceptional performance of a complex job, apparently there also was another reason for the boost in pay.

“We didn't want to lose him,” Jones said. “He had a couple other opportunities to do other things with a lot more money than we were offering him.”

Jones later added, “We felt like we had to give him something where he felt like he had ownership in the airport.”

Jones said LeTellier's evaluation review was held in a closed session at LeTellier's request.

Despite some areas the board wanted LeTellier to address, Jones said the group still was in full support of keeping LeTellier for the foreseeable future.

“I feel like he is deserving of what he's getting,” Jones said.

The motion to increase LeTellier's salary to $100,000 was made by Sue Richardson at the Nov. 17 regular meeting, and seconded by board member Judy Weeks. LeTellier said the compensation policy was developed by Richardson and board member Jon Barton, and was based on a policy by the American Association of Airport Executives.

Jones said while many public agencies have department heads and a full fleet of staff - that's not the case for the airport district.

“We wouldn't let him hire anyone,” Jones said, adding that in his estimation the taxpayer-funded district has been frugal since its inception.

Jones said LeTellier does much of the work other airports typically set aside for other full-time positions.

The district has 12 full-time employees, including maintenance workers, weather observers and office staff, most of whom are hourly employees. LeTellier said receptionists make between $20,309 and $27,217 annually, maintenance workers, $24,700 to $40,200; facility operations managers between $43,000 and $57,000 and executives assistants, $30,000 to $40,200.

The district also has numerous contract employees including an accountant, an architect, an auditor an engineer and police officers and firefighters from the city of North Bend.

LeTellier, who serves as both the chief financial officer and chief executive officer for the airport district - which has an annual budget of $29 million - said the scope of his duties won't change, but that he will be heading up several big projects in the near future.

“I am taking on a $20 million terminal project,” he said. “I am going to be building a new air traffic control tower. We are also doing a major master plan for the business park. There are a lot of new things. These are all new duties.”

Gov. Ted Kulongoski signed the Senate Bill 152 into law which authorized $10 million of Oregon Lottery bonds to help finance a new passenger terminal expansion and runway enhancements at the airport.

“He's going to have to bear that himself, rather than have a staff to rely on,” Jones said.

LeTellier said the raise brings him on par with other airport executives managing airports the size of the North Bend Municipal Airport. In addition, he said it raises his salary to that of his local peers including Oregon International Port of Coos Bay Executive Director Jeffrey Bishop (see sidebar.)

“We have an executive. He comes from the industry, let's compensate him like they do in the industry,” LeTellier said, summing up what he believed went through some board members' minds before the vote.

No other changes were made to LeTellier's contract and Jones said LeTellier's next raise would not be for a long time.

“We do not anticipate increasing it at all in the future for a while,” Jones said.