eff the nassau taxpayers
11-28-2007, 10:05 PM
November 28, 2007
Search Newsday.com Web enhanced by Login or register Home Delivery Suozzi pushes lawmakers on pay raise
CELESTE HADRICK | celeste.hadrick@newsday.com
4:29 PM EST, November 28, 2007
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Digg Del.icio.us Facebook Fark Google Newsvine Reddit Yahoo Print Single page view Reprints Post Comment Text size: County Executive Thomas Suozzi Wednesday called on the Nassau legislature to approve hefty raises for the five county-wide elected officials, including a 60 percent salary hike for himself.
Suozzi submitted a bill to raise the salaries of the county executive, comptroller, assessor, clerk and district attorney to levels recommended by a "blue-ribbon" panel this spring.
Presiding Officer Judy Jacobs said she will put the proposal on committee agendas for Monday and expects it to go to the full legislature for a vote on Dec. 17.
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Except for the district attorney, this is the first time lawmakers have been asked to vote on raises for countywide elected officials since 1995 when the former Board of Supervisors approved pay increases that became effective in 1996.
The proposal would increase Suozzi's $109,394 salary to $174,614, effect Jan. 1. County Comptroller Howard Wtzman's salary would jump from $108,670 to $166,300 as would the pay of Assessor Harvey Levinson and County Clerk Maureen O'Connell; both now earn $100,000 a year. District Attorney Kathleen Rice, who now earns $150,000, would be paid $166,300 next year.
While the salary panel recommended that legislators' salaries jump from $39,500 annually to $70,300, Suozzi's bill does not address thr pay, which has remained unchanged since the 19-member legislature was created in 1996.
The county charter prevents legislators from raising thr pay during thr current terms by requiring a legislative election to occur before any increase takes effect.
"The five elected officers are not bound by the charter like we are," Jacobs said. "Even if we put through the blue-ribbon panel report in total it wouldn't take place for the legislature until 2010."
Lawmakers have floated the idea in the past to change the charter to allow themselves to increase thr own salaries but nobody has stepped forward to push the plan.
Minority Leader Peter Schmitt (R-Massapequa) said he believes the entire blue-ribbon report should be on the agenda. "I think everybody's raises should be discussed," Schmitt said. "ther elected officials in this county, and there are not two classes of elected officials, are deserving of an increase or they're not."
But he backed away from suggestions that Republican lawmakers propose an amendment to include legislative pay. "We have only nine votes," Schmitt said. "It's up to the majority to decide what they're going to do."
Suozzi originally had included the five countywide elected officials' raises in his 2008 budget. But he moved the money to a contingency fund so the raises could be discussed at a public hearing separate from the budget process -- and after November's legislative elections.
Last year, more than 2,500 county employees, mostly police, earned more than the county executive. Suozzi also makes less money than Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy and Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray, who just proposed a $10,000 pay hike to bring her salary to $140.000. Levy's authorized salary for next year is $191,500, but he consistently takes less. He will take $179,678 next year, a spokesman said.
"I think that the Nassau County Executive should make at l as much as the Suffolk County executive," Suozzi said. "I think most people agree. We're going to go through the process and have the full debate."
Lawmakers indicate there are probably 10 votes to hike Suozzi's pay, but there is less certainty about the other raises. Legis. David Denenberg (D-Merrick) said he was unsure. "I think the others are too much too fast.
"I definitely would support Suozzi's raise because I don't think the county executive position in Nassau is less than that of Suffolk or Westchester," Denenberg said.
Schmitt however, said, "I'm inclined to say a 60 percent salary increase at this time is not appropriate for anybody, but we'll see."
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Search Newsday.com Web enhanced by Login or register Home Delivery Suozzi pushes lawmakers on pay raise
CELESTE HADRICK | celeste.hadrick@newsday.com
4:29 PM EST, November 28, 2007
Article tools
E-mail Share
Digg Del.icio.us Facebook Fark Google Newsvine Reddit Yahoo Print Single page view Reprints Post Comment Text size: County Executive Thomas Suozzi Wednesday called on the Nassau legislature to approve hefty raises for the five county-wide elected officials, including a 60 percent salary hike for himself.
Suozzi submitted a bill to raise the salaries of the county executive, comptroller, assessor, clerk and district attorney to levels recommended by a "blue-ribbon" panel this spring.
Presiding Officer Judy Jacobs said she will put the proposal on committee agendas for Monday and expects it to go to the full legislature for a vote on Dec. 17.
Related links
Talk about it
Except for the district attorney, this is the first time lawmakers have been asked to vote on raises for countywide elected officials since 1995 when the former Board of Supervisors approved pay increases that became effective in 1996.
The proposal would increase Suozzi's $109,394 salary to $174,614, effect Jan. 1. County Comptroller Howard Wtzman's salary would jump from $108,670 to $166,300 as would the pay of Assessor Harvey Levinson and County Clerk Maureen O'Connell; both now earn $100,000 a year. District Attorney Kathleen Rice, who now earns $150,000, would be paid $166,300 next year.
While the salary panel recommended that legislators' salaries jump from $39,500 annually to $70,300, Suozzi's bill does not address thr pay, which has remained unchanged since the 19-member legislature was created in 1996.
The county charter prevents legislators from raising thr pay during thr current terms by requiring a legislative election to occur before any increase takes effect.
"The five elected officers are not bound by the charter like we are," Jacobs said. "Even if we put through the blue-ribbon panel report in total it wouldn't take place for the legislature until 2010."
Lawmakers have floated the idea in the past to change the charter to allow themselves to increase thr own salaries but nobody has stepped forward to push the plan.
Minority Leader Peter Schmitt (R-Massapequa) said he believes the entire blue-ribbon report should be on the agenda. "I think everybody's raises should be discussed," Schmitt said. "ther elected officials in this county, and there are not two classes of elected officials, are deserving of an increase or they're not."
But he backed away from suggestions that Republican lawmakers propose an amendment to include legislative pay. "We have only nine votes," Schmitt said. "It's up to the majority to decide what they're going to do."
Suozzi originally had included the five countywide elected officials' raises in his 2008 budget. But he moved the money to a contingency fund so the raises could be discussed at a public hearing separate from the budget process -- and after November's legislative elections.
Last year, more than 2,500 county employees, mostly police, earned more than the county executive. Suozzi also makes less money than Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy and Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray, who just proposed a $10,000 pay hike to bring her salary to $140.000. Levy's authorized salary for next year is $191,500, but he consistently takes less. He will take $179,678 next year, a spokesman said.
"I think that the Nassau County Executive should make at l as much as the Suffolk County executive," Suozzi said. "I think most people agree. We're going to go through the process and have the full debate."
Lawmakers indicate there are probably 10 votes to hike Suozzi's pay, but there is less certainty about the other raises. Legis. David Denenberg (D-Merrick) said he was unsure. "I think the others are too much too fast.
"I definitely would support Suozzi's raise because I don't think the county executive position in Nassau is less than that of Suffolk or Westchester," Denenberg said.
Schmitt however, said, "I'm inclined to say a 60 percent salary increase at this time is not appropriate for anybody, but we'll see."
More articles