The Livingston County Ways and Means Committee. (Photo/Conrad Baker)
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LIVINGSTON COUNTY – Members of the Livingston County Ways and Means Committee were furious when they heard that New York State is effectively mandating an increase in pay for the Livingston County District Attorney as part of the recently passed state budget but not providing any additional money for the county to do so.
The Ways and Means Committee considered retroactively paying District Attorney Greg McCaffrey $183,297.75 per year, up from $151,775 in 2015. His salary is identical by state law to both Livingston County Court Judges, who are paid by the state. By increasing the judges’ salaries, the state is requiring that McCaffrey’s salary also increase to $193,000 in 2017 and to $203,000 in 2018.
“This is already a $30,000 jump for just this year from New York State that does not come with any additional funding to help us,” said County Administrator Ian Coyle. “This is not unheard of, for the state to increase the salary of the judges and thus the DA. However, for the last couple of times, the state has provided additional money to help pay for the increase.”
Members of the Ways and Means Committee considered defying this mandate by New York State.
“This is just something shoved down our throat again,” said Eric Gott, member of the Ways and Means Committee and Chairman of the Livingston County Board of Supervisors. “What if this didn’t pass at the local level? This is not to beat up Greg, this is not personal. The worst case scenario is that we will be forced to pay it.”
Coyle said that if the county chooses not to pay McCaffrey the additional money, there could be legal issues with New York State.
“If we just didn’t pay we’d be in conflict with state law,” said Coyle. “Somebody would likely come down from New York State and force us to pay it or file a law suit. […] I can tell the state that the legislating body in Livingston County was not in favor of the increase.”
Gott added that the county will most likely eventually consent to pay the increase, but the search for the extra money could mean cuts to the DA’s Office or other county departments.