BUFFALO, NY (WKBW) — All Erie County elected leaders could be in line for pay raises. Late last month the Citizens Salary Review Commissioner decided to recommend pay raises for the Erie County Executive, comptroller, sheriff, county clerk, and county legislators.
“Why would any elected official need a pay raise in the times we are living right now,” remarked Frank Todaro, Republican legislator.
Commission members reviewed and compared all big four counites Erie, Monroe, Albany, and Onondaga, and noted Erie County has the highest population.
- Erie County Executive salary from $139,000 to $175,000 a year.
- Erie Comptroller from $107,000 to $140,000 a year
- Erie County Clerk from $90,000 to $130,000 a year
- Erie County Sheriff from $101,000 to $150,000 a year
- All 11 Erie County Legislators from $43,000 to $65,000 a year
“I do believe that it's warranted. The salary for this job has not been raised in 28 years,” replied Timothy Meyers, Democratic legislator.
Meyers is the Democratic majority leader. He noted legislators have not received a pay raise since 1996.
“I think there's certain concerns getting qualified candidates to run that can't make it on a $43,000 a year salary,” Meyers explained.
“I’m going to do the job description that's asked of my position and to ask for a raise — no, I'm doing this for the community. I’m doing this for the betterment of the community,” Todaro stated.
But Todaro tells me he and other members of the minority Republican caucus will likely vote no.
“So, at this time, no, I can speak for myself and say no. The other three, are definitely, we all seem to be that we are all on the same vote here,” explained Todaro.
But what about those pay hikes for the other top leaders like the sheriff?
“It should be a vote on who lives here, who agrees to say ‘yes, I can afford it, they're doing a great job, I want to do this’ and allow a raise,” commented Todaro.
“If you're not going to pay the sheriff, who you going to pay,” noted Meyers.
“When do you expect a vote?” Buckley asked. “I don't know. I believe that once we get the report. It may be even there now, I don’t know. I have not seen it. I think there will be a committee discussion on it maybe at the next committee meeting, maybe as soon as next week Then I would assume two weeks after that there would probably be a vote,” replied Meyers.
It's important to note, that if approved, these pay raises would go into effect after the next election for each position.
