If the county is to live through a tight budget year, Mercer County Commissioner Olivia M. Lazor said Thursday her Republican colleagues should do a better job evaluating what workers should be paid.

The Democrat cast the sole "no" vote to create the position of an assistant in the county's Fiscal Administration Department at a starting salary of $12.21 an hour.

Mrs. Lazor said her evaluation showed the county will be paying the assistant more than he or she would be rated to be paid. Citing Sharon Metropolitan Statistical Area wages for clerical positions, the fiscal assistant should start at $11 an hour, Mrs. Lazor said.

Neither wage rate includes automatic wage increases county workers receive after a year on the job, she said.

At $11 an hour, the fiscal assistant would make $20,020 a year. At $12.21 n hour, the salary would be $22,315.

Commissioner Kenneth A. Seamans said he was satisfied with the job and wage rate evaluation they received.

Mrs. Lazor said her own evaluation showed the job, which calls for a clerical worker with knowledge of auditing, should be getting a lower wages.

About $10 million of the $18 million general fund budget goes for wages and salaries, Mrs. Lazor said.

"We have a tight budget and we just had a tax hike. Why are the county and its citizens having to pay more for a fiscal assistant, when we have a tight budget?" she said.