Elected officials earn their paychecks, usually
Atopic being debated lately at Sayreville Borough Hall is one that has been broached in many towns over the years: How much should elected officials be paid, if anything at all?

It's a difficult question to answer. Most would agree that those who serve in such important capacities, and who do their homework before making decisions, should be compensated.

One problem, however, is that the level of work performed by a given town council member or mayor can be a lot, or it can be shamefully minimal. Many officials take their positions very seriously, and work hard at them. Others do little more than show up and vote at meetings.

Another issue is that, once an official is elected, there really isn't anyone supervising them to make sure they are doing an effective job. The public is essentially their boss, but most residents are too busy to pay attention to what their town government is doing on a week-to-week basis. When the official runs for reelection, it may not even be their record that determines the outcome; they're more likely to sink or swim based on party affiliation or other factors, such as a school tax hike they may have had no control over.

In Sayreville, the mayor gets $5,500 a year, and the six Borough Council members make $5,200 a piece. That's a reasonable amount for these officials, many of whom seem to put in a great deal of time and effort. Those council members opposed to eliminating the salaries - citing costs such as gas and dry-cleaning related to their positions - are right. They should keep these minimal payments, especially since they recently voted to eliminate their own health benefits.

Sayreville is on the low end of salaries for elected officials. Those in Old Bridge and Monroe are paid slightly more, and South River's get slightly less. Spotswood and Milltown council members get almost nothing, with a range of $1,500 to $2,500 a year. East Brunswick officials make from $10,000 to $20,000.

Some would ask why, since Board of Education members cannot be compensated for their services, council members are paid? In many cases, their services are similar. In fact, it's safe to say there are school board members in this area who work harder than some council members.

But in most cases, our local elected officials do earn their minimal amounts of compensation, and they should keep those salaries at their current levels. Those who do work hard deserve it, and typically, these paychecks probably do little more than cover their expenses.