Getting a fix on how salaried employees should be paid when an extra payday pops up in a year drew a varied response from accountants and human resource experts.

Every 11 years the extra payday issue pops up like it will next year, a leap year. With the way the days fall on the calendar and the way the regular two-week pay periods fall for Mercer County, there will be 27 paydays, rather than the normal 26.

By going with 27 paydays, county commissioners will have to budget an extra $100,000 or so for salaried employees in 2004. But in 2005, the county will be able to reduce its budget by about the same amount because fewer paydays fall in that year.

"I've worked 30 years in this field and I've never encountered this problem in any way, shape or form,'' said Ed Palanski, a Sharon management consultant. "Nobody I know has wasted a minute of time on it.''