The new cost of living allowance for Butler County elected officials will follow the Consumer Price Index for Pittsburgh.

The county commissioners on Tuesday opted to alter a proposed resolution, eliminating a percentage-based automatic pay hike.

For the fiscal year of 2009-10, the Pittsburgh index was 1.9 percent.

Commissioner Dale Pinkerton, board chairman, said the CPI-based COLA sets a new model that better reflects current economic conditions.

"It's time for a new way to do it," he said.

A consumer price index is the change in the prices paid by consumers for goods and services.

The initial draft of the resolution included a salary hike range of 1.5 percent to 4 percent.

The current county resolution, enacted in 1984, set the COLA to fall between 4 percent and 8 percent.

If approved at today's commissioners' meeting, the new COLA can't take effect until 2012 because state law prohibits a sitting board from altering it within the same four-year term.

The resolution covers the commissioners, controller, treasurer, clerk of courts, prothonotary, register of wills, recorder of deeds, sheriff, coroner and jury commissioners.