Proposal to end automatic raises for Suffolk officials fails
A Suffolk legislator's proposal to end automatic annual raises for elected officials in the county was struck down in committee Wednesday.
Legislator William Lindsay proposed a five-year freeze on the automatic cost of living pay increases. He says it would have saved the county about $100,000 a year. When it came up for a vote, none of the other four legislators on the Government Operations, Personnel, Information Technology and Housing Committee would second the proposal.
"Due to the financial constraints that we are under, I wanted to send a message that we are taking this seriously and there are going to be areas that we have to cut," says Lindsay.
The legislators who did not vote and would not comment about the proposal are Kara Hahn, Leslie Kennedy, Kevin McCaffrey and Robert Calarco. Each receives $100,000 a year in salary and health benefits for the part-time job.
Lindsay says the automatic raises were put in place back in 1986 in order to side-step annual votes on salary increases. Those who receive the automatic raises include 18 legislators, the county executive, the county clerk, the sheriff, the comptroller and the district attorney.
However, County Executive Steve Bellone froze his own salary at the 2012 rate when he first took office. Legislators Lindsay, Cilmi and Krupski also froze their salaries when elected.
Legislator Lindsay says he will bring the proposal to freeze automatic pay raises up again for another vote before the year ends.
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