Erie County Executive Salary: $175,000 Raise, Benefits, and Pension

The Erie County Executive is paid $148,886 in 2026 under the adopted county budget.¹²³

What the 2026 Budget Pays

The $148,886 figure in the 2026 adopted budget is up from $139,392 in the 2024 budget, the number the Citizens Salary Review Commission used as its baseline when it conducted its most recent compensation study.¹⁴

For comparison, the same budget pays the County Comptroller $140,000, each rank-and-file County Legislator $65,000, and the Legislature Chair $75,000.¹

The Approved $175,000 Raise

In 2024, the Citizens Salary Review Commission recommended raising the County Executive’s pay to $175,000.⁴ The Erie County Legislature approved the increase on a 6–5 vote, along with raises for other elected officials ranging from 25 to 47 percent.⁵

Approval is not the same as payment. The Erie County Charter prohibits any salary increase from taking effect during the current officeholder’s term.² County Executive Mark Poloncarz’s current term runs through January 2028, so whoever wins the next election will be the first person paid at the new rate.³

The rule prevents sitting officials from voting themselves an immediate raise, and it also shields them from retaliatory pay cuts by a hostile legislative majority. One other restriction can block even an approved raise: no salary increase is allowed in any fiscal year where the real property full-value tax rate rises above the prior year’s rate.²

Benefits and Pension Contributions

The salary is only part of the compensation. The County Executive gets standard public-employee benefits, including health insurance and automatic enrollment in the New York State and Local Employees’ Retirement System, which covers full-time permanent employees of participating employers.⁶

Pension participation comes with a required employee contribution. A Tier 6 member earning over $100,000 contributes 6 percent of annual earnings.⁷ On $148,886, that is roughly $8,933 a year deducted from pay. The position also includes standard life insurance options and reimbursement for business expenses such as mileage and travel.

How the Salary Gets Set

Erie County does not set elected-official pay through ordinary budget negotiations. Article 22-A of the county charter creates an independent Citizens Salary Review Commission that reviews these salaries every two years and sends formal recommendations to the County Executive and the Legislature by September 1 of each even-numbered year.⁸⁹⁴

After the recommendations arrive, the Legislature has one year to act. It must hold at least one public hearing, with notice published in the county’s official newspaper at least five days ahead. A simple majority can adopt salaries at or below the recommended level; going higher than the commission recommended requires a two-thirds vote of all members.²

1
Erie County. 2026 Adopted Budget
2
Erie County. Erie County Charter Article 2 – Legislative Branch
3
Ballotpedia. Mark Poloncarz
4
Erie County. 2024 Citizens Salary Review Commission Final Report
5
WIVB. Erie County Officials Vote Yes to Officials Pay Raises
6
Office of the New York State Comptroller. Retirement Benefit Summary Tier 6 ERS
7
Office of the New York State Comptroller. Member Contributions
8
Erie County Department of Law. Erie County Charter Article 22-A – Citizens Salary Review Commission
9
Erie County, New York. Citizens Salary Review Commission