BY JEFF CHUDZINSKINorth Country This Week

CANTON — St.  Lawrence County legislators have approved raises for themselves with a split vote on the eve of Election Day.

Beginning January 1, legislators will see an increase from $12,000 to $15,000 per year, while committee chairs will see an increase from $12,000 to $16,000. 

The vice chair will see an increase from $14,000 to $17,000 and the chair will see an increase from $17,000 to $20,000. 

The resolution, which stirred controversy for nearly two weeks, saw bipartisan support as it passed narrowly by an 8-7 margin.

Voting in favor were Republicans Joe Lightfoot, David Forsythe, Bill Sheridan, Larry Denesha, Rick Perkins and Harry Smithers, along with Democrats Margaret Haggard and Anthony Levato.

Voting against the resolution were Republicans John Burke, Rita Curran, Jim Reagen, Glenn Webster, Terry Goodrich and Allan Robinson, along with Democrat Nicole Terminelli.

Both Goodrich and Terminelli voted differently compared to last week’s Finance Committee meeting, which saw Terminelli vote to advance the resolution and newly appointed Goodrich abstain.

At the time, Terminelli said it was important to allow constituents the opportunity to weigh in on the resolution. Despite an additional week for feedback, Terminelli said she received no comment from constituents. Instead, she said she researched through social media to determine the public opinions on the resolution.

Despite no public comment during the meeting, legislators debated for more than 20 minutes as to whether they should approve the raises.

Burke said the cost of health insurance should be included with the overall compensation package. He said it showed a lack of transparency by the board when presenting the resolution to the public last week. Language of the resolution remained unaltered from last week and did not include any figures related to the cost of health insurance.

He also said multiple legislators take the county insurance plan, with the possibility of additional legislators opting in in the future.

Some downplayed the cost of insurance, arguing legislators pay the same amount as every other county employee but Terminelli said the cost to taxpayers cannot be ignored simply because legislators pay a small portion out of pocket.

According to Terminelli, the county budget showed that legislators come at a cost of more than $420,000 to taxpayers, which included salary and benefits.

She also said legislators are largely unaccountable outside of chamber hours, saying the weekly board meetings were the only times constituents were able to account for their representative.

While Terminelli is not seeking reelection, she did say she considered future legislators in making her decision. 

Still, Lightfoot said the number of hours legislators put forth more than warrants a pay raise. He said legislators previously passed on raises that would’ve been significantly higher in 2019 and likely put legislators on pace with rates of neighboring counties.

 He said at the time legislators were being paid $9,000 per year, with proposed raises possibly raising legislators to $17,000 per year. In the end legislators settled on raises of $3,000, arguing the time was not right to implement such large races as the county was in fiscal distress.

Lightfoot compared the potential raises to those put forth by IBEW members who work for the New York Power Authority, saying those members received similar raises of 3.5% recently.

He said the raises proposed for legislators “did not amount to a hill of beans” when compared to workers who are paid $100,000-$150,000 per year.

Terminelli said raises for NYPA employees were not comparable as those members are employed full-time to carry out extremely dangerous work in challenging conditions, whereas legislators are elected officials working in much safer conditions.

It was a similar argument made by Haggard, who previously said that the salary was not commiserate with the work in many cases. 

She previously said legislators put in many hours outside of committee meetings, attending town board and village board meetings or attending events to support constituents.

Haggard previously said some legislators had the opportunity to donate their salaries to the Sunshine Fund, however she claimed she was unable to do so in her position.

Perkins said increased salaries would potentially allow for new blood to join the board. Perkins previously made the point that it could be fiscally irresponsible or even impossible for younger generations to take time from work when they still have bills to pay at home and do not receive enough compensation to be on the board.

While some agreed that a raise was necessary, Webster said raises should not be approved by the body. Instead, he said an overseer of the board was necessary to give raises.

“I’m just not comfortable giving myself a raise,” Webster said.

Curran said now was not the right time to give raises as families struggle to purchase home heating fuel in preparation for winter.

St. Lawrence County currently imposes a 4% home heating fuel tax and legislators have taken no action to repeal it despite pushback from the public.

Chairman David Forsythe, a private business owner, said a lack of raises could impact small business owners who are taking time out of their business day to attend committee meetings and events on behalf of the county. He continued, saying it was important that legislators receive further compensation for the time necessary.

Forsythe pointed towards Lightfoot as an example, after Lightfoot commented on the dozens of hours he put in each week outside of the committee meetings.

“I don’t know of a committee that you’re not on,” Foreythe said of Lightfoot.

He said he was lucky to have a brother and son who not only help him in his business, but also understand the commitment necessary to be a member of the legislature.

Forsythe said many who work in the private sector could potentially not be as fortunate and would be unable to put in the work necessary to represent constituents properly.

In the end the resolution passed, affording legislators a raise for the first time in eight years once the next term begins.

Raises will be effective as of January 1, 2027 and will include phased in raises for the following three years.