Salanes for West Virginia county officials are now set by the state and are uniform, determined by the size of a county's population.
But a bill now under consideration would allow commissioners in each county to set the salaries for all county-level elected officials -- including themselves -- depending on their job duties and the amount of money the county has to spend.
It would be up to commissioners to agree on what's fair, and the pay could range significantly from one office to the next and from one county to another.
The bill already has passed the Senate and was introduced Tuesday in the House of Delegates.
The proposal has made waves in Kanawha County, where for years the county commission has had strained budget battles with former sheriffs, prosecutors and other office-holders over employee pay and expenses.
Kanawha County Commissioner Kent Carper said today the salary bill would eliminate the much-needed system of checks and balances that now exists on the county level.
"There's a necessary tension between the constitutional officials right now, but this will realign the stars," Carper said. "You have a lot of influence when you control someone's paycheck. Right now, (other officials) do everything they can to irritate us. If this passes, they won't want to irritate us at all."
Legislators are divided on the subject. Sen. Shirley Love, D-Fayette, said Tuesday he's heard recently from a lot of county officials who want pay in their areas to more accurately reflect the kinds of issues and problems they're dealing with individually.
"I'm getting e-mails from sheriffs every day," Love said. "I think a lot of times we just don't keep in rnind that sometimes the reasons why things work so well in one place is because of the people in charge and the people they have around them working on the lower levels."
The state Association of Counties has called for a fairly hefty increase for all elected officials, citing increased demands on local governments and the problem of attracting good people to run for county office.
A bill providing for that raise — up to $10,000 in some cases — still is circulating in the Legislature.
The bill allowing commissions to set the pay scale seems to have stronger legs. The full Senate passed it Tuesday, and it's now under consideration by the House political subdivisions committee.
Delegate Cindy Frich, R-Monongalia, said some state lawmakers might be quick to pass such a measure because it wouldn't cost the state any more money. County officials' salaries are paid for entirely by county revenue.
"I can see it being one of those things we just wouldn't have to worry about," Frich said. "This could be totally political. If (commissioners) don't like officeholders, they could give them a very small pay. If it's a political ally, they could get a generous pay. It's not a good bill."
Kanawha County Commissioner Dave Hardy said putting the commission in charge of salaries for all other elected officials would cause more squabbling in the county courthouse.
"I spend 25 percent of my time arguing with office-holders over pay raises for other employees," Hardy said.
"I have no desire every year to engage in a sparring match with the elected officials over what they make. That's the Legislature's job, and I would rather it stay that way."
Contact writer Kris Wise at 348-1244.