Huntsman won't take a salary raise

The governor's annual salary should be boosted to more than $106,000, a state commission recommended Wednesday, but Gov.-elect Jon Huntsman Jr. said he won't accept a pay raise.

Huntsman, the son of one of Utah's wealthiest businessmen, told the Deseret Morning News he hadn't given the compensation that goes along with his new job much thought but likely will accept a paycheck.

"In government service before, I've taken the salary," said Huntsman, who served in three presidential administrations including as U.S. ambassador to Singapore. "I'll probably end up giving a good part of it back to charity."

The state's highest elected office currently pays $101,600 a year. Wednesday, the Executive and Judicial Compensation Commission recommended a 4.5 percent increase, to $106,200. That would bring the pay in line with other Western and Midwestern states.

Huntsman said he's not interested in earning any more, though.

"I would turn down a pay raise," he said.

He's already going to be taking a significant financial hit when he gives up his position with the family business.

When he takes office Jan. 3, Huntsman said he will step down as chairman and chief executive officer of Huntsman Family Holdings Co., his only title in a chemical empire with $10 billion in revenues and 15,000 employees.

And he said he intends to put his remaining financial interest in the business into a blind trust, just as he did when he held positions in the federal government, even though he is not required to do so as governor.

"I would do it anyway. In the federal government, I had to put everything in a blind trust for me and for my kids," Huntsman said. "I'd do the same thing here."

The Huntsman group of companies announced in September it would go public.

Raising the governor's salary was just one of the recommendations from the commission, an independent group formed by the Legislature to review the compensation packages received by the executive and judicial branches.

The commission also proposed increasing the salaries of other state elected officials, including a jump of nearly 12 percent for the attorney general. Attorney General Mark Shurtleff currently earns $85,400 a year — a smaller salary than 54 of the attorneys who work for him.

Another hefty increase, 7 percent, was recommended for district court judges. That would take their salary from $104,750 to $112,000 at a cost to taxpayers of more than $940,000. Other judges would receive a 4 percent hike under the proposal.