Local officials: 20 percent pay
raise needed

By Staff
from staff and wire reports
April 24, 2004
Lauderdale County Sheriff Billy Sollie said he believes he has earned a 20 percent pay raise included in a proposal that the state House on Friday sent to the governor for his signature.
Sollie, who earns $65,000 a year, could see his pay jump to $78,000 beginning Oct. 1 if the governor signs the bill. Sollie and he hasn't received a raise since 1996.
The pay raise proposal passed the Senate 44-1 and cleared the House 88-28 in. The proposal calls for the 20 percent raises to be paid by local taxpayers; state funds would not finance the pay raises.
Gov. Haley Barbour has not taken a public stand on the bill. Barbour's spokesman Pete Smith said that "the governor is still studying the issue and he'll make a decision once it reaches his desk."
Some House and Senate members, however, don't like the bill. Several lawmakers said they worry county budgets will be stretched thin and supervisors will be forced to raise property taxes.
But House Fees and Salaries Committee Chairman David Green, D-Gloster, said the raises are overdue. They would take effect at the start of the counties' next budget year.
If the governor signs the bill, the raises for most county officials would be mandatory. Supervisors would have to vote to accept their own pay raises; Green said they could accept all or part of the 20 percent raise.
Lauderdale County Supervisor Jimmie Smith, who represents District 2, said he was happy the pay raise bill
passed. Supervisors now earn $37,343; a 20 percent raise would push the pay to $44,812.
Sollie said that his duties have increased since 1996, and that he believes he should be compensated for the increased demands.
He said he is hopeful that taxpayers won't mind funding the raise.
Staff writer Georgia E. Frye and the Associated Press contributed to this report. The bill is Senate Bill 2647. You can obtain a copy of the bill by visiting the Legislature's Bill Status Web site at http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us.