We still struggle to justify automatic pay raises each year for Chautauqua County lawmakers – though judging from last week’s vote Republican lawmakers have no such struggle.

In 2024, the county legislature voted to increase the base salary of individual legislators from $9,000 to $14,732, an increase of about 64%. It was the first pay hike in about 20 years. It’s a failing of the legislature that, in our opinion, they’re overcorrecting with the automatic pay raises now. The only reason the legislature didn’t get a raise over the course of 20 years is that the body didn’t have the courage to stand before the public and vote for raises at a time when too many county residents are struggling to make ends meet. Now, it has approved a roughly $108,000 pay raise and annual raises to boot.

The issue isn’t the money. Chautauqua County is flush enough with cash in its fund balance that the cost-of-living raises each year won’t make or break the county budget. The issue is principle – and something Legislator Lisa Vanstrom said during Wednesday’s legislature meeting made our ears perk up when we think about the job county lawmakers are asked to do on our behalf.

“Nothing in my household has gone down no matter how tight you can pull your belt in. Certainly not bread, certainly not milk, eggs have fluctuated … coffee has gone up,” she said.

To hear Vanstrom talk, the county raise is needed in order to balance lawmakers’ household budgets. But most county legislators have experienced at least a modicum of financial success in their personal lives. Those who run for office typically are interested in public service and having a hand in decision making, not to balance their monthly household budget. Vanstrom is right – costs are going up on everything. But we’ve often expected those in leadership positions to be more concerned with the public’s money than with lawmakers’ money.

And in principle Vanstrom and other Republicans are putting themselves in position to fall for every sob story they hear during union negotiations from here until the end of time. That makes sense when one considers what has happened with county salaries for both appointed positions like the county human resources director and in union contracts.

When county lawmakers can’t say no to their own pay raises, what makes you think they can say no to anyone else’s either?