Monroe County elected officials could be in line for pay raises of between 17% and 58%, if the county legislators approve the recommendations of a commission they empaneled to review salaries.
The Compensation Policy Commission met throughout May and on Wednesday issued a report outlining its pay recommendations and the rationale behind them.
“I know pay increases are not popular. It's not popular in public opinion, it's not a popular vote for elected officials to take,” said Jack Moffitt, the commission’s chair. “But I really think it's in the best interest of the community. We want to attract the best possible representatives and to offer pay commensurate with the responsibilities.”
The fact that the commission is recommending raises for the county executive, sheriff, county clerk, and legislators, shouldn’t come as a surprise. Commission members have repeatedly noted that, except for the sheriff, those elected officials haven’t had raises in more than 20 or 30 years, respectively.
The commission has recommended for the 2024 budget:
- Increasing the county executive’s pay from $120,000 to $180,000. That’s a 50% hike, but it amounts to a 1.9% increase each year since 2000, the last time the executive got a raise.
- Increasing the sheriff’s pay from $149,376 — the current salary earned by the sheriff — to $175,000. That’s a 17% raise.
- Increasing the Monroe County clerk’s pay from $81,000 to $115,000. The 42% raise amounts to a 1.6% annual increase since 2000, the last time the clerk received a pay raise.
- Increasing the base pay for legislators from $18,000 to $28,500. That’s a 58% raise, the largest recommended increase of the bunch. Legislators haven’t had a raise since 1990, so the increase amounts to 1.4% annually over those three decades.
The commission is also recommending raising the stipends for Legislature leadership positions. It recommends bumping most of the stipends up by 25%, though the majority and minority leaders of the Legislature would get a 50% bump and assistant caucus leaders would see their pay rise 100% — from $1,250 per year to $2,500.
It is also recommending that the Legislature eliminate a pay scale arrangement that had been in place for the sheriff and that it stick with a firm salary.
To develop the recommendations, the commission analyzed the duties and responsibilities for the positions in question, pay for similar positions in comparable county governments, pay for local non-profit leaders, and other factors.
Commission member Daniele Lyman Torres, the president and chief executive officer of Bivona Child Advocacy Center and the city’s former commissioner of recreation and human services, urged legislators to enact the recommendations. Budgets are statements of priorities, she said, and increasing the pay of elected officials would show that the public values their skilled work.
“I am hopeful that our community members really do understand the magnitude of what these leaders are asked to do,” Lyman Torres said during an interview. “And that we want them to have the skills and competencies and experience that can do the job, as opposed to people willing to take the job with at the salaries that they're set, which are far below market.”
The commission also approved two policy recommendations.
One advises legislators to amend the county charter to ensure that a Compensation Policy Commission meets every four years, or sooner if deemed necessary. The commission members said that should help prevent the Legislature from going decades again without taking some action on salaries.
The other calls for altering the charter so the Legislature clerk’s salary is not under the commission’s purview. The Legislature clerk is appointed by legislators as a matter of business, not elected by voters.
