Legislature grants most raises for county employees

2009 budget passes

By FRITZ MAYER

MONTICELLO, NY — Legislators voted to kill the increase for the county clerk this year, but agreed to keep raises for many other workers.

The vote came amid a round of opposition from members of the public to the legislature granting raises, or adjustments and promotions as lawmakers have called them, in the midst of an economic crisis, when property owners are being faced with a seven percent property tax increase.

At a meeting at the government center on December 18, lawmaker David Sager led an effort to roll back some of the largest pay increases, a couple of which are pegged at more than $10,000 per year. In introducing an amendment to the budget, Sager said that while he thought the process by which the increases were arrived at was fair and above board, he thought the timing for the increases was bad. He said he had heard the objections from the public, and he said, “It’s foolish not to listen to constituents; we’re supposed to represent the will of the people.”

Lawmaker Alan Sorensen voted with Sager for the amendment, but the other lawmakers opposed it, and it was defeated.

The increases or adjustments have been repeatedly defended by some of the lawmakers as necessary to retain good employees and fair to the county workforce, and those sentiments were repeated in statements released by the county.

Vice chairman Ron Hiatt said, “The majority [of the increases] are either promotions or job reclassifications. The substantive raises are those for the financial and accounting officers. We couldn’t hire or retain them because we weren’t competitive.”

Lawmaker Frank Armstrong said the public perception that the salary increases played a large roll in the budget was misplaced. He said, “Since these increases had little impact on the overall budget, less than 1/10th of one percent to be exact, I felt I had to look at the larger issues. The quandary for me was: should I yield to perception and instantly become the hero, or should I take the tougher choice, and exercise my responsibility as a leader and legislator? I decided to exercise my responsibility as a legislator. I feel this is the budget that will provide the best services for the residents and employees of Sullivan County.

As noted above, the legislature did vote to rescind the $9,200 raise for Dan Briggs, the county clerk, but did so after consulting with Briggs, who agreed to stay at his 2008 salary level.

As the lawmakers went through the process of voting on the budget and other year-end measures, several followed the example of Sager, who has said he would not take a salary hike while in office, and filed letters with the county indicating they would forgo their salary increases for 2009. County chairman Jonathan Rouis had previously frozen his salary.

The 2009 total budget appropriation is $191,228,499, or roughly $926,100 less than 2008. Go to co.sullivan.ny.us to see the full press release from the county regarding the budget.