Adams County supervisors have a chance to show their constituents soon what true leadership looks like with a simple decision that will speak volumes about their character.

Supervisors recently discovered they could raise their pay because the county’s assets surpassed a new mark on the state’s tiered system.

If supervisors vote to accept the voluntary pay increase, each supervisor’s annual pay would increase by $4,300.

Since supervisor pay also dictates the pay of the county’s justice court judges and county prosecutor, the $4,300 figure is multiplied eight times over, or approximately $34,400 each year.

Add in the state retirement contributions the county must make on the increased pay and the bill is approximately $40,000 annually.

For the next four years, that totals $160,000 in additional spending, without merit.

The jobs supervisors are doing — the jobs for which they ran for office — have not changed; simply a technicality allows them to take more money from taxpayers.

The county is facing a tough budget year ahead. The future of one of the county’s largest taxpayers, the Adams County Correctional Center, seems in question after federal authorities have questioned the use of such private prisons.

The price of crude oil — which greatly affects our area’s economy — has still not rebounded to anywhere near what it was just a few short years ago.

All of those winds have the potential to make Adams County’s economy quickly become more turbulent than it already is.

The absolute last thing we need is for supervisors to belly up to the public trough and begin slurping down more taxpayer money.

We hope supervisors do the right thing and pass on the unnecessary and financially unwise pay raise.