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Elected officials pay hike proposal will be decided by Erie County lawmakers

A county pay increase plan follows pay hikes for Buffalo and state officials in recent years.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Erie County Legislature will eventually vote in an upcoming meeting on proposed pay increases for county officials including the county executive, sheriff, clerk, comptroller, and the lawmakers themselves. 

The public had a chance to speak out Thursday on those raises recommended by the volunteer members of the Erie County Salary Review Commission. 

As that commission appeared before the county legislature's finance and management committee on Thursday, they once again formally recommended these county official new salaries from their previous pay, now $175,000 for the county executive, $150,000 for the sheriff, $130,000 for the clerk, and $140,000 for the comptroller, and finally, $65,000 for county legislators, who will actually vote on these recommendations 

We did hear form some lawmakers in favor of the pay raises who feel their duties, constituent work, and various responsibilities justify the increases.

"Me as a current legislator $42,500 ain't it. That's not enough, and I will tell anybody that, because nobody can come in to this role and say $42,500 is enough," Legislator Howard Johnson of District 1 in Buffalo said.

Legislator John Gilmour of District 9 in Hamburg noted: "$42,500 is not a lot of money for what we do because this is not a 9 to 5 job. This is weekends, this is nights, this is constant phone calls, constant emails."

But other county lawmakers questioned the pay boost and whether the position is really full or part time. Legislator John Mills of District 11 in Orchard Park pointed out: "These kinds of dollars are very high. It plays wrong with the taxpayers. It's not fair, and that's why I will vote against it." 

Legislator Lindsay Lorigo added: "At the end of the day we can't put an increase on our own paychecks. Affects the taxpayers, and they can't do that themselves. They have to work, they have to show they're performing well to get a raise."

It is expected the raises will be approved by a majority vote of lawmakers. 

This county government increase comes after last year's pay boost at Buffalo City Hall for the mayor, now at just over $178,000, as well as higher pay for city comptroller, and city council members.

In Albany in 2022, the Governor's pay is now the highest in the country at $250,000, and then the highest paid state lawmakers at $142,000. 

The raises essentially taking effect after the next election. 

We also got the perspective of Professor Shawn Donahue, who is in the Political Science Department at the University at Buffalo.

"One of the things that sometimes irks citizens is the fact that you have people that have the ability to increase their own pay, that they are the people voting on how much they make," Donahue said. "Most of us don't have that ability. You know it's our employer that is deciding how much we make or maybe from our union contracts, so that's some of what I think that irritates a number of people."

 

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