Because they have received salary increases in recent years, the bill did not include Sheriffs. Other county officials have not received a raise since 2004. Supervisors will get a 3 percent raise, while chancery and circuit clerks, tax assessors, and collectors will receive a 5 percent increase. Rep. Manly Barrton, R. Moss Point, stated that the supervisors’ raise was 3 percent. However, a 5 percent bump will be given to chancery and circuit clerks as well as tax assessors and collectors. The reasoning is there.” Teachers were also given a $1,500 per-year raise in legislation recently signed by the governor. Teachers and other educators have expressed disappointment at the increase for teachers and state employees. The raise must be approved by the majority of county boards of supervisors before it can take effect. Supervisors will need to approve it Jan. 1. It will automatically take effect for all other offices, and it will begin in January. Each chamber had at one time passed legislation giving supervisors a $10,000 per-year raise across the board and a maximum $9,000 for chancery clerks and circuit clerks. However, social media comments pointed out that teachers in schools and state employees received a smaller raise. The momentum to provide a raise for county officials started to slow down. It looked like the bill was dead at one point, but a compromise was reached during the last days of session to give a smaller raise. The bill also stipulates that all fees for services such as filing court records to adopt, filing a land claim, or filing alterations to a marriage certificate or birth certificate would be uniformly $85. These fees currently cost between $25 and $75. The bill calls for an increase in fees for clerks to attend court, as well as fees for law enforcement to serve warrants and local medical examiners to complete medical reports. A marriage license will cost $21 to $35 more. Circuit clerk and chancery offices are to operate on these fees, with $90,000. of that amount being available for their salaries. The legislation is awaiting the governor’s signature. This bill would increase the amount they could keep by 5 percent. The assessed value of each county in which they are located determines how much supervisors get paid. A 3 percent salary raise in the smallest counties will result in an $870-$29,870 increase per year. The increase in the wealthiest counties will range from $1,401 to $48,101 per year. Based on the county’s assessed value, tax assessors or collectors earn an average of $48,500 to $64,000. They can expect a 5 percent rise. Barton stated that the increase would add approximately $25,000 annually to the budgets of larger counties. After the cost of operating the offices and circuit clerks, some fee increases may result in more money going to the general fund of the county. A committee is also required to examine the salaries of county officials and make recommendations for the 2020 Legislature. Gray Tollison (R-Oxford) referred to the pay increases approved during the 2019 session only as a “short-term” fix. He suggested that larger increases may be necessary to adjust salaries that have not been raised since 2004. Legislators noted that county raises are funded with local funds, while state employees and teachers are funded with state funds.