SALEM — A citizen panel put the finishing touches on a package of proposed pay raises for legislators and other public officials Thursday. But a taxpayers group said it will work to derail any pay raises for lawmakers.

The salary hikes are being recommended by the Public Officials Compensation Commission for Oregon judges, legislators and statewide officeholders to bring their salaries closer to the national average.

The lawmaker pay increases could take effect next year if the Legislature approves them — and that’s far from certain at this point.

Jason Williams of the anti-tax group Taxpayers Association of Oregon said his organization will lobby against the commission’s plan for a 27 percent increase in legislators’ pay, from the current $19,884 a year to $25,200 a year.

Williams said lawmakers “have a long track record of overspending” and don’t deserve a pay raise.

He took particular aim at the 2007 Legislature’s move to spend $2 million on new furniture for lawmakers and their staffs and an additional $4 million for legislative staff.

“They have been quite lavish and generous with themselves ... and taxpayers have had to pick up the tab,” he said.

The public commission tentatively adopted the proposed pay package for lawmakers after the panel’s vice chairwoman, Barbara Fredericks of Beaverton, said the current pay is so low that it discourages some of the state’s “most talented” people from serving in the Legislature.

“My experience in my area in Washington County is that we had a number of excellent legislators who left because they didn’t have enough income to support their young families,” she said. “We need highly intelligent people to do this work.”

Fredericks also said she hoped the commission will consider boosting the proposed annual legislative salary higher the initial recommendation of $25,2000 after conducting a public hearing on the issue Sept. 18 in Salem.

A final recommendation will be forwarded to the Legislature by Nov. 10.

The 11-member citizen commission is conducting Oregon’s first detailed review of elected officials’ salaries in years.

Among its other recommendations, the commission is proposing to boost the governor’s salary from $93,600 to $130,000 while the Oregon attorney general’s $77,200 salary would be increased to $119,000.

The salaries of the secretary of state, state treasurer, state school superintendent and state labor commissioner all would go from the current $72,000 a year to $100,000 a year.

Circuit court judges around the state would see their annual salaries go from $114,468 to $132,000.

SALEM — A citizen panel put the finishing touches on a package of proposed pay raises for legislators and other public officials Thursday. But a taxpayers group said it will work to derail any pay raises for lawmakers.

The salary hikes are being recommended by the Public Officials Compensation Commission for Oregon judges, legislators and statewide officeholders to bring their salaries closer to the national average.

The lawmaker pay increases could take effect next year if the Legislature approves them — and that’s far from certain at this point.

Jason Williams of the anti-tax group Taxpayers Association of Oregon said his organization will lobby against the commission’s plan for a 27 percent increase in legislators’ pay, from the current $19,884 a year to $25,200 a year.

Williams said lawmakers “have a long track record of overspending” and don’t deserve a pay raise.

He took particular aim at the 2007 Legislature’s move to spend $2 million on new furniture for lawmakers and their staffs and an additional $4 million for legislative staff.

“They have been quite lavish and generous with themselves ... and taxpayers have had to pick up the tab,” he said.

The public commission tentatively adopted the proposed pay package for lawmakers after the panel’s vice chairwoman, Barbara Fredericks of Beaverton, said the current pay is so low that it discourages some of the state’s “most talented” people from serving in the Legislature.

“My experience in my area in Washington County is that we had a number of excellent legislators who left because they didn’t have enough income to support their young families,” she said. “We need highly intelligent people to do this work.”

Fredericks also said she hoped the commission will consider boosting the proposed annual legislative salary higher the initial recommendation of $25,2000 after conducting a public hearing on the issue Sept. 18 in Salem.

A final recommendation will be forwarded to the Legislature by Nov. 10.

The 11-member citizen commission is conducting Oregon’s first detailed review of elected officials’ salaries in years.

Among its other recommendations, the commission is proposing to boost the governor’s salary from $93,600 to $130,000 while the Oregon attorney general’s $77,200 salary would be increased to $119,000.

The salaries of the secretary of state, state treasurer, state school superintendent and state labor commissioner all would go from the current $72,000 a year to $100,000 a year.

Circuit court judges around the state would see their annual salaries go from $114,468 to $132,000.