Just weeks ahead of Election Day, the Onondaga County Board of Elections commissioners went to county lawmakers with two requests.
During a budget meeting Wednesday, Republican Board of Elections commissioner Kevin Ryan told legislators that he and his Democratic counterpart receive salaries that are below what many other counties offer.
"There's a belief that we don't really do much other than Primary Day and Election Day, and I can assure the members of this community that is not the case,” Ryan said. “Our staff works hard. We work hard. I believe that we provide value to the citizens and taxpayers of Onondaga County."
The commissioners’ annual salary is $99,973, which Democratic commissioner Dustin Czarny said hasn’t increased since 2020, when they stopped receiving cost of living increases.
Czarny said the amount of any increase in salary would be up to lawmakers, but he thinks $130,000 would be in line with the Consumer Price Index.
He also asked county legislators to consider increasing the commissioners’ terms from two years to four. He said they could do that when reappointing commissioners later this year, after each commissioner is chosen by his own party.
"It's a lot different running for reelection while running an election in the middle of October if we're doing it in a midterm year as opposed to a presidential year, which will be the next time we would have to run if we're not moved to a four-year term,” Czarny said.
Czarny said both the salary increase and change in terms could help strengthen the position for years to come.
“While it will benefit us, it’s about benefitting the position long term and setting them to a point where reasonable people will be willing to put their names forward for it,” he said.
