DECATUR - The Macon County Board finance committee could recommend Tuesday that the county hand out raises to some county officials for the first time in four years.

The committee is set to discuss whether to approve increases in salaries for officeholders elected in non-presidential years: the treasurer, county clerk and sheriff. If the committee approves the proposal to increase salaries, it would move on to the full county board for consideration at its May 11 meeting.

Some board members say a pay increase is only fair considering county employees and other county officials have received raises. Most county employees are receiving a 3 percent pay increase each of the next two years under contracts approved by the board in recent months.

Board Chairman David Wolfe, D-Oakley, said the officeholders elected in non-presidential years "made themselves martyrs" in agreeing to have their pay frozen in 2002 amid a major budget crisis, and that sacrifice is not now necessary.

"I think that we should try to do something to bring them up to where they should be at," Wolfe said.

The board is required to set salaries for the entire four-year terms of officeholders by the end of May during years those offices are up for election.

The board froze the salaries of the offices of circuit clerk, coroner, recorder and auditor when their pay was last considered in 2004. Because their pay was frozen later, those officeholders make about $4,000 more than the officers elected in non-presidential years.

The one exception, however, is Sheriff Jerry Dawson who is receiving a total of $73,506 this year from his pay as both sheriff and director of public safety for the county.

The board approved a more than $7,000 raise in Dawson's public safety pay in February 2005 so his salary for the year would equal that of his highest-paid captain. Board members at the time said that the disparity between the pay of the sheriff and some of his deputies needed to be addressed to make running for the sheriff's office an attractive job for longtime officers.

Dawson's sheriff's salary would increase from $62,490 this year to $66,638 next year with 3 percent pay increases in each year of his term, under a draft proposal developed by finance committee Chairman Bob Sampson, D-Decatur. Dawson's $11,016 salary as public safety director would remain the same.

Treasurer Steve Grimm and County Clerk Steve Bean would see their pay increase from $58,295 this year to $62,447 in 2007, and they would receive 3 percent pay increases each following year.

Bean is the only officeholder who was in office when the salaries were frozen in 2002. He said he appreciates the board considering a pay increase for his office, but he recognizes the county's budget situation remains precarious.

"I know we're not planning for an increase in the Bean household," he said.

Although the county still owes about $2.5 million in internal loans, Wolfe said he did not expect the salary increases to slow debt repayment plans.

The county is scheduled to make a $500,000 payment on the debt this summer and retire it entirely within five years under a debt retirement plan advocated by Wolfe, Sampson, Grimm and Auditor Amy Stockwell.

Mary Tallon can be reached at mtallon@herald-review.com or 421-7984.