ERIE COUNTY – The Erie County Legislature will vote next Thursday on a recommendation to raise salaries for four elected officials, but the measure faces fierce opposition from the Republican-led majority.
This fall, the Erie County Salary Review Commission recommended an increase in pay for the County Executive ($103,248 to $126,400), Clerk ($79,092 to $91,800), Comptroller ($80,613 to $98,750) and Sheriff ($79,092 to $102,400). These four positions have not collected a raise since 1996.
Laurie Buonanno, a professor at Buffalo State College and a member of the commission, said the group settled on those numbers after comparing Erie County to other similar counties in New York. According to her, the County Executive and Sheriff's salaries fell below the mean. The Clerk's salary fell in line with the mean, while the Comptroller's was difficult to judge because many counties use a "treasurer" position instead.
"I think Erie County is the greatest county in the state," Buonanno said. "I don't want my County Executive, My Clerk, my Comptroller and Sheriff, to be compensated less than in comparable counties."
In Monroe County, which has a similar population, median household income and median real estate value to Erie County, certain elected officials make much more money. The Monroe County Executive makes $120,000, while the Sheriff makes $136,700.
In Erie County, though, it appears unlikely that the legislature will approve the recommendation to increase salaries. Lynne Dixon, a 9th District Independent, said she will vote against the raises next Thursday.
"I just think this isn't the right time. There's a lot of people in Erie County and Western New York who haven't had a raise in a long time, though cost of living has gone up," Dixon said. "And so I think it's a very difficult ask of taxpayers."
The commission recommended that Erie County legislators' salaries remain the same, noting that they are very well compensated compared to other counties. Buonanno said the commission briefly discussed the possibility of dropping legislators' salaries, although they ultimately decided not to move forward with that idea.
County Executive Mark Poloncarz has yet to publicly weigh in on the recommendation. A spokesperson said he felt it was his job to at least facilitate the commission, but he will have no further comment beyond that.
