Resident Asks Why Harnett County Board Members Got Raise As County Considers Higher Budget

By Emily Weaver
Daily Record of Dunn

Harnett County commissioners approved raises for appointed members of the Harnett County Board of Elections in September, effectively making those members the most well-paid elections board in the area. But with tax bills likely on the rise to fund an increased spending plan, some residents are asking why.

Commissioners say the board members hadn’t seen a raise in years and an increased workload in the last election warranted a bump in pay.

The pay increases put Harnett’s members at compensations above those paid for the same roles in Cumberland, Johnston and Moore counties, combined.

At a recent meeting, Harnett County resident Eric Stevenson asked commissioners why the budget includes such a substantial pay increase for the board and the reasons behind it.

State law only requires boards of election members be paid at least $25 per meeting, but it allows commissioners to provide extra compensation at a rate approved by the county. The new compensation schedule in Harnett County puts the chairman at a monthly pay of $800 and each member at a monthly pay of $700.

“From what has been reported and discussed previously, the board of elections chair pay went from $250 a month to $800 a month and board member pay went from $200 a month to $700 a month. That is a significant increase,” Stevenson said. “For the chair alone, that is more than triple the previous monthly amount. For the full board, that appears to move compensation from about $12,600 a year to about $43,000 a year. … Now, in the big picture of a budget, some may say that’s not a large number, but to the taxpayers, the principle matters. We are in a budget year where property values have gone up. Many residents are trying to figure out whether their tax bills are going up, even if the tax rate stays the same. So when the public sees a large pay increase for an appointed board, they deserve to know how that decision was made, where it is shown in the budget and what justification was used.”

Commissioner Bill Morris made a motion to increase the board members’ pay at a meeting Sept. 15.

The public didn’t balk at the proposed increase in that meeting, he said, but Stevenson, who lost election to Morris’ seat in the March primary, has brought it up in meetings since then.

Morris said the board of elections members had served without a raise for years and “it got to the point to where they were meeting or conferring almost every day” last year when the board was working to move early voting out of Western Harnett High School and approve new precincts.

“I frankly think they do a great job,” Morris said. “You want good people to do a good job, then you’ve got to pay them.”

Commissioner Eddie Jaggers seconded Morris’ motion on Sept. 15, in part, “because the Board of Elections voted to take early voting out of the schools,” he said at the meeting, and that was going to “require a lot more activity by them.”

Jaggers now chairs the board of commissioners.

“I feel like that is an acceptable amount to compensate board members for their service considering the amount of time they voluntarily serve the citizens in that capacity,” Jaggers said on Tuesday. “During election season, those members sometimes meet at least once per week preparing for and monitoring the election process in Harnett County.”

The motion passed 4-1 with Commissioner Barbara McKoy casting the sole dissenting vote, according to minutes of the Sept. 15 meeting. The increased pay was put into effect last year and wasn’t specifically mentioned in a draft of next year’s budget, beyond an increased allotment for the local elections office.

“… During a budget hearing, every dollar should be explained. The public should not have to dig through meetings, agendas and budget lines to understand how a pay increase like this was approved,” Stevenson added.

How Harnett compares to other counties

The total allotment for salaries of Harnett County Board of Elections members sits at $43,200 with the latest pay increases. That’s almost triple the salaries for board members in Cumberland County where the chairperson is paid $5,000 a year and the board’s four members each get $2,500 a year.

In neighboring Johnston County, the chairman gets $500 a month and the board’s four other members get $450 a month, adding up to a total salary allotment of $27,600 a year.

To Harnett County’s west, board members in Moore County only get $600 to $1,000 a year in salaries at a breakdown of $60 per meeting for the board’s chairperson and $50 per meeting for each of the board’s four members.

Cumberland, Johnston and Moore counties have higher populations than Harnett. But the local board is still getting higher pay than boards in counties closer to Harnett’s size in population.

Rowan County had an estimated population of 153,384 residents in 2024, only 7,288 people shy of Harnett’s estimated 146,096 that same year. The chairperson of Rowan’s elections board only received $2,401.20 last year, though, while the rest of the board’s remaining four members were each paid $1,826.30 last year. Their pay may go up with a cost-of-living-allowance in fiscal year 2026-27, according to Rowan County Elections Director Sharon Main. But salaries in Rowan still sit almost 4.5 times lower than Harnett’s new pay.

Randolph County was even closer to Harnett in population size in 2024 with an estimated 148,389 residents, but the total pay for its board was even less at $6,900. In Randolph, the chairperson makes $175 a month and the board’s other four members each make $100 a month.