Gwinnett County Commission Chairwoman Nicole Love Hendrickson is one step closer to getting a big raise approved by the Georgia General Assembly, but there are still some additional steps — including passage of a second bill with statewide implications — that have to be taken before the pay increase becomes a reality.
On Thursday, the Georgia House of Representatives approved, without opposition, the bipartisan House Bill 777 to increase the salary for the chair of the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners. The local legislation was introduced in the Georgia Senate for consideration the same day.
There is catch though. The bill approving the raise is actually just the first step in a complicated legislative process that has to be gone through to increase the chairwoman’s salary.
That’s because a 2002 state population act dealing with commissioners’ compensation for counties with more than 800,000 residents blocks the change from going into effect. A bill to repeal that law would have to be passed during the 2024 session before the Gwinnett chair’s salary can be raised.
“I am grateful the delegation recognized the office of the chairperson needs to be compensated at a higher level because of what the job entails,” Hendrickson said in a statement to the Daily Post.
“However, it has been brought to my attention there is an additional step that must happen before a raise can take place. We are going to continue to work with the General Assembly during this process.”
If House Bill 777 is signed into law, and the 2002 law is repealed next year, the commission chair’s salary would be set at the same level as the base salary for the sheriff of Gwinnett County as of Jan. 1 of this year.
Information on what the sheriff’s base salary, as well as the chairwoman’s salary, was as of Jan. 1 was not immediately available…
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