The next board

of commissioners elected in Fulton County will make significantly more

than their predecessors.

With little

fanfare and no discussion, Fulton County Board of Commissioners raised

salaries for themselves, starting in 2003.

The original

proposal was to raise each commissioner's salary from $25,000 to $45,000

and the chairman's salary from $27,000 to $50,000. But Wednesday, the

board approved raising the salaries of the commissioners to $35,000 and

the chairman's pay to $37,000, said public information officer Edwina

Palmer.

Only two commissioners

voted against the raise; Bob Fulton and Chairman Mike Kenn.

In a statement

released late last year, Chairman Mike Kenn said he supports raising the

salaries in general for elected officials, but could not support this

motion.

"I think

it would be inappropriate to give commissioners a raise in light of the

economic problems that the metropolitan Atlanta area is experiencing,"

Kenn said.

Kenn also added

the commission has consistently voted against raises for other employees

in Fulton County, so he could not support a raise for the commission.

But South Fulton

Commissioner Bill Edwards supported the raise.

"I didn't

get into this job to get rich, so it's really not going to affect me one

way or the other," he said.

"There's

a lot of good people who can't afford to do this job, but are capable,"

he said.

Edwards said

his salary as a commissioner is used to pay for staff at his insurance

agency so he can free up more time to do the county's business.