Editorial: Why can't Westmoreland County consider a cap on elected officials' salaries?

Westmoreland County Commissioners need to talk about a change to how elected officials are paid. They need to do it openly, publicly and on the record, rather than lobbing comments back and forth via answers and interviews.

But they aren’t.

County law ties elected officials’ raises to the consumer price index. There is something very clinical about that. It takes the decision away from commissioners. It was a vote taken years ago. And sometimes there might not be an increase at all because of economic conditions.

However the salary hikes for 2022, 2023 and 2024 have totaled 17% due to the economic challenges of the post-pandemic era and inflation.

Those raises come at the same time and for the same reason that taxpayers are financially strapped. They also coincide with state pay increases that follow law implemented the same way for everyone from the governor to the legislature to judges.

They can also be tied to challenging negotiations with county unions. It’s hard to argue the county has no money to give one group a pay increase while accepting one itself. The county’s largest labor union came down to the wire, walking away with a three-year deal including the same 17% increase elected officials received.

Westmoreland Commissioner Ted Kopas has proposed a 2.5% cap on elected official salaries. He shared draft legislation with fellow commissioners but saw no movement. For a change to take place for 2026, commissioners would have to vote on it at an evening meeting this year. The last such scheduled meeting was last week. The proposal wasn’t entertained.

This is hard pushback from some corners. Both Commissioners Sean Kertes and Doug Chew have called the Kopas proposal political. Treasurer Jared Squires says the math is flawed. It’s worth noting the current system has put $7,100 in Squires’ pocket over the past decade.

“In 68 years, the lowest paid county employee will be paid more than an elected official (under Kopas’ proposed cap). That’s in our lifetime,” Squires said.

Purely because Squires brought up the math, let’s point out that in 68 years, he would be 114. That’s a substantial lifetime.

What is the issue with keeping elected official salaries restrained to a more conservative escalation than that of employees? Just this year, the county has seen the register of wills office brought back from chaos by employees after the neglect of an absent elected official collecting a substantial paycheck.

But whether Kopas’ proposal passes isn’t the issue. It is worth consideration and discussion. It should not be smothered in an inbox without debate. The commissioners all have opinions on it, and those opinions should be heard.

The law now absolves the commissioners of responsibility for the exorbitant pay increases they have received — but if they refuse to even consider a change, the fault for future hikes will be theirs.