Committee Recommends Raises for Ulster County Legislators

How would you feel if you went almost 14 years without a pay increase? Apparently that's the case for Ulster County Legislators and, according to The Daily Freeman, the county’s Periodic Compensation Review Committee has recommended the salary increases for lawmakers.

County legislators are considering a law that would increase the salary of legislators by $4,000 in the upcoming year. This would mean that, according to The Daily Freeman, this would raise the pay of rank-and file lawmakers to $14,000 per year from $10,000. The salary for the Legislature’s majority and minority leaders would rise to $16,000, from $12,000, and the salary of the Legislature chairman would increase to $23,500, from $19,500.

Ulster County legislators’ salaries are reportedly among the lowest in the state, leaving many to feel that it makes it difficult to attract qualified candidates to run for office. The Daily Freeman article states that legislators could vote this month to set a public hearing on the law that would increase legislative pay, but they'll miss out if a vote isn't taken by the end of December because the next time lawmakers will be eligible for a pay hike is 2018.