Editorial: Reining in commissioner pay raises is worth discussing

How much of a raise did you get last year?

According to international insurance and brokerage company WTW, the U.S. average was about 4.2%. That was higher than the 3.1% and 3% of the previous two years. All together, the three years come in at 10.3%.

Unless you are an elected official in Pennsylvania.

State legislators, judges and other executive officials in the state received a 7.8% increase. It came on the heals of a 5.6% increase in 2022, meaning that over just two years, those public servants received a 13.4% pay raise due to legislation tying the increase to the consumer price index.

But hey, what can anyone do about that? It’s a state thing. It isn’t local, and there’s nothing that can be done about it here, right?

Wrong — because it wasn’t something that only happened in Harrisburg. It also happened in Greensburg.

Westmoreland County also has an ordinance that prompts an automatic cost of living increase tied to the same tool. For the commissioners, that 7.8% meant a raise of more than $7,000, bringing Chairman Sean Kertes to $95,616 and Doug Chew and Gina Cerilli Thrasher to $92,210.

Thrasher, a Democrat, resigned over the summer and was replaced by county judges with Ted Kopas, a former commissioner who was already running for a spot on the board. He took on that salary.

On Tuesday, he said the raise was too much and advocated repealing the ordinance, calling the raise “obscene.” Instead, he opted for capping increases at 2.5%. County union workers received raises of 2% to 3% in 2022 based on contracts.

The commissioners — all three of whom are on the November ballot, along with Democrat Lisa Gephart — should consider it.

Chew called the move “election-year pandering.” That’s a bold statement from someone who promised to donate back 60% of his salary when he ran for office in 2019 and has yet to fulfill that pledge.

The top duty of the commissioners is the efficient and responsible use of public assets to benefit the public good. At least considering placing responsible restraints on their own pay increases falls in that sphere.

State legislators should consider the same. Maybe if Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward, R-Hempfield, sees the conversation come up in Westmoreland, it could prompt similar debate in Harrisburg.