Governor vetoes raise for sheriff
By Diana Royal

Gov. Sonny Perdue rejected a bill last week that would have tacked $10,000 on to the salary of the Burke County Sheriff.

The veto of SB 311 was one of 41 bills already passed by the General Assembly that got the ax last Thursday.

In a press release issued by the governor's office, Gov. Perdue stated the reasoning for his veto of SB 311. "I do not support unfunded mandates generally, especially when local governing authorities did not have the benefit of consultation prior to the Legislative Session," Perdue said.

The bill, which was introduced by Sen. J.B. Powell, would have cost taxpayers more than $12,000 a year after the benefits were adjusted. In March, Burke County Administrator Merv Waldrop said the commission's main concern was footing that amount, as the bill was set to become effective on July 1 of this year and the county's budget had already been adopted.

While Powell amended the bill to align with the 2008 budget, commission chairman Jimmy Dixon said he never asked for the commission's thoughts on the issue. "He never said a word," Dixon said, adding that he had no objection to the pay increase and told the governor's office just that. "But when they asked if J.B. Powell had ever contacted the commission, I wasn't going to lie."

In fact, Powell was not the only Burke County representative who didn't ask what the commission thought about increasing its budget. Dixon said Jon Burns, who represents the 157th District, had contacted him and expressed his opposition but that neither District 123 Rep. Gloria Frazier nor District 142 Rep. Jimmy Lord had mentioned SB 311.

Burke County Sheriff Greg Coursey said he hadn't expected the governor to approve the bill. "I'm not surprised," he said, adding that there had been no public outcry against the bill, the commission chairman supported it and it did not affect the state's budget. "It's a partisan issue … he (vetoed the bill) strictly because he's a Republican and I'm a Democrat." Coursey, who earns $84,000 annually, has been sheriff since 1981 and said he has never asked for a salary increase. "But it would have been nice for the next sheriff," he said.

Perdue also vetoed a similar bill that would increase the annual pay of the sheriff of Jefferson County, citing the same reasons for his disapproval.

Phone calls made to Powell had not been returned at press time.