CHENANGO COUNTY - County officials are putting pressure on the New York legislature to assist in the cost of a state mandated $22,800 raise for the county’s District Attorney.
Salary increases for local full-time district attorneys are tied to increases for judicial pay and set by the New York State Commission of Legislative, Judicial, and Executive Compensation.
In previous years, the state has funded the DA salary increases in the state budget; however, costs associated with recently adopted raises were not part of the governor’s 2016-17 budget proposal or the final budget that was adopted in April. And since a raise wasn’t anticipated when the county adopted its budget back in January, local taxpayers are left to pick up the unexpected tab.
Chenango County Board of Supervisors Chairman Lawrence Wilcox said it’s typical to see troublesome issues when the timing of the local and state budgets don’t line up.
“It really is quite an imposition four months into our budget year to make that kind of change,” said Wilcox, noting that county officials are currently working with state representatives to have the DA’s salary increase reimbursed by the state.
The DA’s raise brings that position’s salary from the $152,500 that was adopted in the Chenango County 2016 budget, to a current salary of $175,300. A resolution authorizing appropriation of funds for the increase was passed by the Chenango County Board of Supervisors last month.
The good news is that while the county is stuck with the wage increase, it’s not on the hook to pay the DA’s entire salary. The county receives some reimbursement from the New York State Unified Court System. Given that approximately $70,000 is paid by the state this year, the District Attorney’s salary is actually a lower percentage of local share than some other positions in the county.
“The bottom line is that even with the raise that’s going through, a lot of that – $70,000 now and up to $100,000 next year – will be paid for by the state,” said Chenango County District Attorney Joseph McBride. “When we found out that salaries were going up and that the state was not going to pay the additional money, we contacted all of our senators and assemblyman to get that changed.”
Last week, efforts to seek reimbursement saw some progress through a bill that’s being co-sponsored by State Senator James Seward (R-51st Senate District). The bill intends to aid counties in paying mandated salary increases for full-time district attorneys.
“I am acutely aware of the painstaking measures local elected officials take to balance their budgets, keep property taxes in check, and still provide essential services to their constituents,” said Seward. “With that in mind, the state needs to come to the aid of local governments and ensure that mandated salary increases for district attorneys are not a drag on local budgets and property taxpayers.”
Seward added that failure to include salary increases in the governor's budget proposal made it difficult to for the legislature to inject money during budget negotiations.
“This newly introduced legislation will remedy the situation, and is especially necessary for counties that I represent that have relatively lower budget reserves and are unable to absorb unanticipated costs,” said Seward.
The bill is currently in review in the Senate Local Government Committee.