Nassau legislators to take 4 percent pay hike

                                                    Nassau Legislature Payroll                                  

 

At least one Nassau County legislator -- Democrat Arnold Drucker of Plainview  -- contends that Republican County Executive Bruce Blakeman should not have taken his ordinance-ordered salary increase this year along with retroactive pay hikes turned down by his Democratic predecessor.

"We don’t need to increase salaries at a time when taxpayers and residents need relief from the county," Drucker told Newsday. "That should come in the form of a tax reduction, not a salary boost.” 

Arnold Drucker

But Drucker and his legislative colleagues had no problem taking their ordinance-ordered pay increases this year and will take a four-percent hike next year.

See the chart above, prepared for the legislature.

What's that saying? Rules for thee but not for me.

A spokesman for Drucker did not return a request for comment.

The legislature approved pay hikes for the county executive and itself years ago:

In late 2007, the then-Democratic majority on the county legislature approved an ordinance that hiked the pay of all countywide elected officials starting in Jan. 2009. It stipulated automatic pay hikes of 4 percent or the CIP increase, whichever is lower, every year afterwards.

Here is the key clause:

From 2007 pay hike ordinance for countywide elected officials

In 2015, the legislature unanimously agreed to hike their own salaries, which had been stuck at $39,500 since the legislature replaced the Board of Supervisors in 1996. The pay hikes would start on Jan. 1, 2019. This ordinance also stipulated automatic pay increases of four percent or, if less, the CPI increase, every year thereafter.

The clauses were exactly the same except for the dates.

                                                                                   

From 2015 pay hike ordinance for county legislators

Former Democratic County Executive Laura Curran took the first pay hike she was entitled to receive but turned down the subsequent increases, leaving her salary at $196,375 from 2019 through 2021. She also kept the salary at $195,375 for 2022, which Blakeman inherited.

But Blakeman was a member of the blue-ribbon panel that recommended the pay hikes in 2007 so, not surprisingly, he put the total stipulated salary into his budget for next year: $220,294.

Bruce Blakeman

Newsday reported he also took a 7.8 percent pay hike this year -- the amount stipulated by ordinance and allowed so long as there is money in the county executive payroll line.

But a Blakeman spokesman said the county executive would not take a pay raise next year because of a charter provision that says elected officials cannot take a salary increase during the second year of a four-year term. 

Oh, that outdated county charter strikes again:

Here is the actual 1984 provision from the county charter: 

2215. Elective officer's salary not to be changed during term. The salary of any
elective officer shall not be increased or diminished during the term for which he was
elected, provided, however, that the salary of an officer elected for a term longer than
three years may, by ordinance, be once increased after he shall have served two years of
such term and may once more be increased after he shall have served three years of such
term.
(Amended by L. 1953 Ch. 358, in effect March 28, 1953; Local Law No. 4-1984, in effect April 9, 1984)

If this were the case, legislators also could not take their annual pay increases so they would have to turn back their 2020 and 2022 salary hikes.

But this is just another example of how musty the county charter is in many respects: It continues to assert provisions that were changed by law years ago.

The 2007 and 2015 pay ordinances should supplant the 1984 provision. Both those ordinances say "shall be adjusted upwards" --  not may be adjusted or can be adjusted.

The charter also still stipulates the county legislator's salary is $39,500. "Unless otherwise fixed by ordinance."

But try to find those ordinances. The charter says it bluntly:

"The County Legislature also acts by Ordinance and Resolution.
Ordinances and Resolutions are not codified, but the
proceedings of the Legislature are available through the office of
the Clerk of the Legislature..."

Click on the Journal of Proceedings at the Clerk of the Legislature site and all you get is the legislative minutes from 1903 through 2021.

Typical Nassau County transparency.