Albany County DA asks legislature to normalize state grant 'bonuses' into salaries; outside communications contract draws questions

Albany County District Attorney Jacob requested a budget amendment at the Albany County Legislature meeting to fold state grant-funded bonus payments into the office’s regular salary structure and to move line items within the existing budget rather than raise the overall appropriation.

The amendment, presented by the DA, would reclassify recurring grant-funded payments that had been treated as variable bonuses into fixed salary lines ranging from deputy positions through entry-level assistant district attorney classifications. The DA said this is “budget neutral,” adding that the office “built those bonuses into a new salary structure.”

The change follows years in which state grant money arrived as uneven bonus payments, the DA said, producing “wildly different” payouts among attorneys. He told legislators the office eliminated ad hoc bonuses and instead set formal salary bands…