By GAYLE WEBER

gweber@dailynews.net

The low end of the salary range for Ellis County's future administrator will be $85,000, as determined by commissioners Monday night.

"Part of your decision is to decide how competitive you want to be," search adviser Marla Flentje told the commission.

After reviewing salaries from county administrators in similarly sized counties, commissioners agreed on the $85,000 figure, which is $10,000 lower than the average of those counties.

"The three western Kansas counties are a little bit higher (salary)," Flentje said of administrator positions in Finney, Ford and Seward counties.

Other counties used for comparison included Saline, McPherson, Butler, Miami and Leavenworth.

She said factors to consider in determining the salary would be population, the size of the county's budget and the number of employees.

In its 2010 budget, commissioners allowed $127,000 for the creation of the position, with $80,000 of that earmarked for salary.

Flentje said commissioners still have plenty of time to decide on a benefit package and conditions of employment, as well as a high-end for the salary range.

"You all can decide at the time you make an offer how much you're willing to go," Flentje said.

In another step toward hiring the county's first administrator, commissioners appointed a 10-member citizen's screening committee, which will review all applications and make a recommendation of finalists to be considered for interviews by the commission.

Committee members are Randy Huser, Ivan Werner, Dean Haselhorst, Susan Molstad, Kerry Bittel, Lou Ann Geist, Dick Werth, Ramie Wasinger, Toby Dougherty and Mike Graf.

The committee will meet April 22 and 29 to review the applications.