Two area municipalities are hoping to join the handful of towns in the state that allow four-year terms for their supervisor and clerk positions.

Voters in the towns of Ira and Throop will vote on propositions Tuesday to increase the term limits for those positions from two years to four years. The Throop proposition also asks to increase the term limit for the highway superintendent.

“Every town should have this,” said Don Teter, supervisor in Ira. “(Two years) is too short a term for the responsibilities.”

If passed, Throop and Ira will join only 150 other towns, out of 932 total in the state, with a four-year term for town supervisor. Currently, 265 towns allow four-year terms for the town clerk and 212 for the highway superintendent, according to figures from the Association of Towns of the State of New York.

“Most towns have stayed at two years,” said Tom Bodden, manager of research and information with the association. “Are more towns trying it every year? I don't know. It's a pretty high percentage that try it and fail.”

William Tarby, Throop supervisor, said he and the town board felt it made more sense to allow the three key town positions to serve four-year terms. The first year, he said, a supervisor inherits the budget of the previous supervisor, leaving him or her only one year to work with his own budget.

“With three years with your own budget ... you have the chance to prove what kind of a job you can do,” Tarby said.

Both town boards supported the term-limit change. But now it will fall to the voters to determine whether they support the change - according to Bodden, many voters in other towns across the state haven't.

“It's not a universally accepted thing,” Bodden said. “The batting average is pretty low.”

If it were universally accepted, Bodden said, the towns association likely would lobby for a change in the state law. But some voters prefer to be able to vote every two years, he said, and some public officials even like to run every two years: “They like to get that mandate from the voters.”

However, considering the learning curve involved with the job, Teter believes the change is in the best interest of the town.

“It can take a good year to figure out what's going on with a job like this,” Teter said, noting that his background in management has assisted him greatly. “It's just not fair to the people that vote you in.”

Both Teter and Tarby were elected in 2004 and are running unopposed this election year.

Staff writer Anne Gleason can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 248 or anne.gleason@lee.net