| County Legislators Reject Resolution Funding DA Salary Increase 08/02/16 11:00pm |
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legislators rejected, by a vote of 8-2, a resolution authorizing the funding of the State mandated District Attorney salary increase of $30,850. After calling the resolution to a vote, only two "yea" votes were audible, seeming to surprise Board Chairman Michael Tabolt. "Let's try this again," Mr.Tabolt declared, after which a roll call vote was requested, with Legislators Philip Hathway and Richard Chartrand voting in favor of the resolution and the remaining eight (Legislators Michael Tabolt, Craig Brennen, Bryan Moser, Andrea Moroughan, Greg Kulzer, Lawrence Dolhof, Roscoe Fawcett and Jerry King) all voting in opposition, defeating the resolution 8-2. In April, the New York State budget included salary increases for State Supreme Court Justices and County Court Judges, as recommended by the NYS Commissions on Legislative, Judicial, and Executive Compensation, in December. A state law additionally links the salary of a county full-time District Attorney to that of the County Court judge, stating they must be equal, effectively making a judicial salary increase a mandated increase to full-time District Attorney salaries to each county. Traditionally the State provides funding for the mandated increases when adopting the budget. This year's budget included nothing to fund this latest mandate, leaving the counties across the state responsible for the increase. A bill to fund the increase was passed in the NYS Senate before recessing for the session, but it never made it through the State Assembly, leaving doubt as to whether any funding will be provided by the State for this fiscal year. This resolution would have authorized the County funding the increase, while still lobbying the State to provide funding for the mandated cost. The mandate increases the current salary of the District Attorney from $152,500 to $183,350, a total of $30,850. This was not included in the county's 2016 budget, and would need to come from the contingency fund. It is unclear what the next step is at this point with both the State and County declining to pick up the cost, but it seems by state law the County may still be required to pay the increased amount. We are gathering some additional information on this and will provide an update when available. The entire resolution, as presented to the board, is below. |
