Onondaga County lawmakers decided against voting on a controversial pay raise for executive and legislative positions, including an almost $40,000 pay hike for County Executive Joanie Mahoney.
Onondaga County Legislator Jim Corl pulled the pay raise proposal off the agenda, saying that more information and data needs to be reviewed before lawmakers can proceed.
The proposal would have brought Mahoney’s yearly income up to $160,000, the same as the county’s district attorney. It would also have boosted pay for three other county-wide positions, as well as legislators.
Legislature Chairman Ryan McMahon says lawmakers received a lot of calls on the issue, prompting the delay. He says he still supports it, suggesting the time frame of raises should be part of the discussion.
“When you talk about certain positions not receiving raises over a 12-year period and receiving one lump sum when you average it over 12 years, it’s not as shell shocking as it’s been portrayed,” said McMahon.
He left the door open for the raises to be brought up again.
"We’ll see. It could be up next month, it could never come up. We’ll see.”
This is an election year for the legislature and Mahoney, who says she plans to run for a third term as county executive.
