State Rep. Lynn Westmoreland doesn't want anybody to have their salaries cut and is a little concerned about a mini-controversy that erupted last week.

The Tyrone legislator suggested it might be time to revisit the salary schedule of the Fayette County Board of Commissioners. Since 1993, the salaries have been tied to the Superior Court judges. When the judges get a raise, so do the commissioners.

In 1993, commissioner were paid $9,000 a year and the chairman received a $11,400 yearly stipend. Today, commissioners receive $15,800 a year, while the chairman is paid $19,432. The raise in five years is nearly 70 percent, which Westmoreland said needs to be evaluated.

Over the weekend, Westmoreland received a message asking him why he gone to the press with his suggestion, but said this is not a new idea.

"I talked to (Commission Chairman) Harold Bost two months ago about the issue. This is not something new," he said.

In 1993, Westmoreland was a freshman legislator and received a request from the commission to tie future pay raises to the Superior Court judges salaries. The vote to ask for local legislation was passed by then commissioners Rick Price, Steve Wallace and Bill Bonner with commissioners Linda Wells and Herb Frady abstaining.

Westmoreland followed the lead of the commission and decided to support their efforts. But now, he believes the issue needs to be revisited.

"I don't think anybody's salaries should be tied to anybody else's. If you make an error, you should go back and see if you can correct it," he said.

The legislator asked Bost to discuss the idea with his other commissioners, but has not heard anything back from the commission. So far, that's the only local issue that Westmoreland has seen.

"Commissioners pay has gone up considerably since it was tacked onto the judges' salaries," according to Bost.

Bost said the windfall has come about because the legislature has been working in recent years to increase judges' salaries to get them on par with those in other states and to attract more qualified judges.

'If that's the motivation for increasing the judges' pay, then why not take the same approach to attract qualified commissioners," said Bost.

But, he said he wants to study the issue more before saying whether he is for Westmoreland's change or against it. "Let's not take a speedy political approach to it. Let's look at it realistically. I do not want to look at any decision based on political motivation."

The legislators will be back to work next Monday after sitting in budget sessions all this week. When the session convenes, Westmoreland said he's happy with some of new Governor Roy Barnes' proposals.

"I agree with about 90 percent of what Gov. Barnes had to say during his (inaugural) speech," he said.

Westmoreland is also pleased with the preliminary budget and may be able to support a proposed budget for the first time in his six years as a legislator.

One of the issues Barnes is discussing is the formation of a transportation super agency that would oversee transportation issues in the 13 metropolitan Atlanta counties.

Barnes has not released any specifics about the plan and that concerns Westmoreland.

"I'm a little bit leery. I don't see another level of bureaucracy helping the problem," he said.

Westmoreland is not so sure that voters he represents in Fayette and Coweta counties would be willing to jump on the mass transit bandwagon, which is a key component of Barnes' transportation plan.

An issue that he supports all the way is the governor's plan to cut property taxes by $83 million.

"That's been one of our main agenda items for several years now. I think Barnes is on the right track here," he said.