Taxpayers should decide any pay increase for elected officials
There has been considerable written recently about the proposed Horry County school board pay increase. I’ll not argue for or against the proposed increase, but rather the method in which it might be awarded.
If an employee wants a pay increase, she goes to the employer, presents her case and asks for a raise. All elected officials work for us, the taxpayers, yet they never seem to ask us when they want a pay raise.
I propose and urge the S.C. General Assembly to pass a law requiring that all proposed pay raises for all elected officials state wide be put on the ballot for a referendum. The officials who want a raise can then make their case - to us. They will receive the raise if they make a convincing argument for it and if we, the citizens, believe it is warranted. After all, it is our money.
Cary Rowell, Myrtle Beach
This story was originally published February 25, 2017 at 6:17 AM with the headline "Taxpayers should decide any pay increase for elected officials."