VALPARAISO | Some Porter County employees are slated to receive pay raises next year exceeding the $1,000 across-the-board increase approved by the County Council during recent budget hearings.

Among the larger increases is $14,830 approved for former Washington Township Trustee/Assessor Lynn Ross, who is slated to receive $37,000 next year as a department head of the personal property division within the county assessor's office, according to figures provided by the county auditor's office.

Porter County Assessor John Scott said Ross and Janine Chrisman, whose annual salary is being boosted by $7,931 to $37,000, will be overseeing and lending a hand with the assessment work in the 11 townships recently wrapped into his office by the state.

Don Wellsand, whose job with the county's information technologies department was expanded to assistant director, is slated to receive an additional $13,071 next year for a new annual salary of $57,000.

IT Director Sharon Lippens said the change is part of an overall revamping of the office that eliminated one position and put a support person in hand place from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each business day.

Wellsand is responsible for the county's entire computer network and will be working numerous hours beyond the standard business day without the benefit of overtime or time off, Lippens said.

Deputy prosecutors Cheryl Polarek and Mike Drenth are slated to receive $10,000 more next year, according to the auditor's office.

The raises are not coming from tax money, but from the $242 collected from motorists who pay extra to keep traffic offenses off their driving records, Prosecutor Brian Gensel said.

Gensel said the two senior members of his department are earning up to $20,000 less than their peers in similar size counties across the state. Gensel said he intends to pursue pay raises for other deputy prosecutors if the funds are available.

The county tourism bureau, which is funded entirely by a 5 percent tax on hotel and motel stays, is slated to give a $9,912 raise next year to Operations Director Lisa Dittrich-Bonder and an $8,377 boost to Sales Director Lindsey Chamberlain.

Executive Director Lorelei Weimer could not be reached for comment.

Others slated to receive a $5,000 raise next year include Kathy Kozuszek and Sundae Kubacki, the Democrat and Republican representatives in the county voter registration office; county attorney Gwenn Rinkenberger; and Lippens.