The Hike Across Long Island: Government Officials Get Hefty Pay Raise Despite Deficit

Angry, frustrated or just “outraged” by the amount you pay in taxes each year here on Long Island, well, you just may reach a new boiling point. It seems that despite a lingering budget deficit in Nassau next year, the County Executive has allocated $1.1 million in pay increases/raises and promotions to his supporters and staff with the biggest salary boost going to a former campaign worker.

According to official the County Executive’s appointees benefited from a 4.5 percent increase, and the County Executive also increased the salary of a man whose family donated over $37,000 to his campaign for governor by 51 percent and changed his job title.

In fact, the added $24,000-plus increase for the campaign worker brings his salary to a little over $71,000 a year.

Also, it’s reported that County legislative leaders shelled out over $250,000 in increases to their appointed staff, bringing it to an average of a little over 9% in raises. And, others, such as the District Attorney gave raises on average of about 7 percent while the County Assessor and County clerk gave 3.5 percent increases to those who were non-union.

However, the Nassau County Comptroller along with the Suffolk County Executive have yet to award appointees any raises and say they are not sure they will.

Officials add that private sector employees can expect raises on average of about 3.7 percent.

And, while these figures may seem exorbitant, the director of the Long Island Economic and Social Policy Institute at Dowling College suggest that such raises are actually about “average” for Long Island.

And, while wages remained relatively inert for the past five years of this decade, experts suggest that salaries increased by about 5 percent on average in the last year. And, they add that the raises given by County officials likely reflect a shift in responsibility. And, they add that while Nassau must prepare for an estimated $160-million deficit in the upcoming year, the County also has to ensure retention of skilled talent, especially in the highly-compensated metropolitan area, and that’s exactly what they raises set out to accomplish.