At session this afternoon, the Erie County Legislature voted 6-5 in favor of giving raises to the Erie County Sheriff, County Executive, and Comptroller. Legislators Lorigo, Mills, Dixon, Rath and member of the Majority Caucus Tom Loughran voted against the raises.

A nine-member appointed Citizens Salary Review Commission put together a report recommending raises for the Erie County Comptroller, Erie County Executive, and Erie County Sheriff.  Their report can be found here. The commission also tied future increases to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which would give raises yearly to officials without input from the public. It would also essentially eliminate the citizen salary review commission as the yearly raises attached to CPI would be law.

Minority Leader Joe Lorigo said, “It is inappropriate to hand raises to elected officials when the county executive and members of the majority caucus just shot down an opportunity to cut taxes for every Erie County resident. My colleagues and I crafted a budget package that would have lowered the tax levy for the first time in nearly twenty years. Instead, the county executive’s final budget raised taxes. At this time, it is a disservice to county residents to increase salaries only two months after denying them a tax cut. Additionally, it is irresponsible to tie these raises to the CPI, paving the way for increases year after year in perpetuity.  By tying salaries to the CPI, these salaries will be over-inflated and non-representative of Erie County residents in no time.”

Legislator Ed Rath said, “Now is not the time to raise elected officials’ salaries. I am disappointed that the majority of the Legislature could not support tax relief for Erie County residents, but they are willing to offer raises to county officials.”

Legislator John Mills said, “It is our job as legislators to best serve the people we represent. This year, we tried offering a tax cut to all county residents, but it wasn’t included in the county executive’s final budget. At a time when Erie County taxes are too high, I cannot vote in favor of raises for elected officials.”