Oswego County passed its 2017 budget last night, with no increase in the tax rate. The legislature also voted to increase the salary for several county administrators.
The 14 percent raises for the county clerk, treasurer and sheriff will be phased in over a four-year period. Many legislators agreed that the raises were overdue, but the Democrats wanted the four raises to kick in after each election rather than all at once. That amendment was defeated along party lines.
Majority leader Shane Broadwell says the raises make up for years of delayed increases.
"What we really did was look around the surrounding counties and said, 'let's look at where ours fits against the others' and they were significantly below average," Broadwell said. "So we believe this is the right way to go so it doesn't become political. It's about the position, not the person."
One resident spoke out against the raises, saying 14 percent increases were more than the county can afford. The $199 million budget is a slight increase from last year.
