Livingston County Reluctantly Agrees to Mandated $30K DA Pay Raise

LIVINGSTON COUNTY – After seven months of deep budget adjustments and much protest, the Livingston County Board of Supervisors reluctantly passed a $30,000 pay raise for the Livingston County District Attorney on Wednesday.

The mandate essentially came down from New York State in April 2016 when the state passed its own budget, which included a $30,000 salary increase for all of New York’s county judges, who are paid by the state. By law, the DA must be paid an identical amount to county judges. Since DAs are paid by their respective Counties, this means that Livingston County must pay DA Greg McCaffrey $30,000 more in 2016, with a further hike expected in 2017.

“We were able to make adjustment to the DA budget to make up the difference for 2016 and we budgeted it for 2017,” said Eric Gott, Chairman of the Livingston County Board of Supervisors. “This issue is not personal but rather an issue that was shoved down our throats by New York State with no reimbursement attached. Greg has my support as well as the entire board.”

McCaffrey’s salary will increase from $151,775 in 2015 to $183,297.75 in 2016. This will further increase to $193,000 in 2017 and to $203,000 in 2018. McCaffrey never had any say in the matter.

In April, the frustrated Ways and Means Committee chose to take no action on the state mandate. The Board of Supervisors sent a message to 57 other counties expressing Livingston County’s strong opposition to the increase.