The Butler County commissioners are proposing a reduction in the annual cost of living allowance for elected county officials. The actual proposed reduction won’t be disclosed until the commissioners meet with the row officers on a date yet to be determined. Commissioner Bill McCarrier, board chairman, said at Friday’s commissioners meeting that the new COLA would set a cap on the increase pay that elected officials receive. If approved by the commissioners this year, the new COLA would take effect for six elected officials in 2014 and for the other seven two years later. Under state law, the COLA for elected county posts cannot be changed until the next term in office. The COLA is based on the Pittsburgh Consumer Price Index, which is 3.5 percent this year.
