It was a hotly debated proposal. But Tuesday, the county legislature voted 10-6 to give Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney a raise of more than $30,000.
"There's many people who understand that the county executive who is a CEO of a very successful county government, who manages 3,500 people," said Onondaga County Legislature Chairman Ryan McMahon. "When you look at all the things that we've done, as far as our record, the position is underpaid. Forget who it is, the position is underpaid."
Next year, Mahoney will make $155,871. The original proposal was to increase her salary to $160,000 a year, but McMahon says that was adjusted to be in line with the county's union wages.
"The reality is the county executive is in charge of managing the workers of the CSEA," McMahon said. "We thought it sends a clear message that if the executive is getting a raise, she's getting a raise at the same rate over the course of the same amount of time."
Legislators also approved their own raises 9-7, bringing their salaries to almost $29,500. The Legislature's floor leader will make about $36,400, and $53,600 will go to the Legislature's Chair.
But not everyone was on board.
"This is terribly disrespectful to the taxpayers," legislator Kevin Holmquist said. "It's disrespectful to the legislature. Deeply disappointed that we have huge raises for politicians after election day, right before Christmas. It's terrible."
Annual raises will be tied to the Consumer Price Index unless there is a decrease. In that situation, the salaries won't change. The raises will take effect January 1.
The comptroller's salary was originally included in the proposal. But legislators decided to drop that component, since that position was given a raise four years ago.