(A) Council Members first elected under this Charter shall receive a salary of $250.00 annually. The first Mayor to serve under this Charter shall receive a salary of $1,000.00.
(B) A Compensation Board shall, every five (5) years, study and recommend any changes to the compensation of the Mayor and Council Members. The first review shall occur in 2025. The Compensation Board shall consist of seven (7) members who are registered electors of the City appointed by Council and confirmed by Council by resolution. Each member of Council will have the right to name one (1) member. The Compensation Board will cease to function ninety (90) days following the delivery of the Board's report to the Mayor and Council. The seat of a member of the Board shall be forfeited if such member fails to maintain the qualifications of an elector of the City, and a replacement shall be named by the Council Member who made the original appointment. No Council Member or employee of the City or members of the immediate family of a Council Member or employee shall be eligible to be a member of the Compensation Board.
(C) The Compensation Board shall elect a Chairperson from its membership. Within forty-five (45) days of its creation, the Compensation Board shall meet to consider the compensation of the Mayor and Council Members. The Compensation Board shall be provided by the Finance Director, a summary of the past five (5) years wage increases for the non-union employees of the City together with the budget projections for future non-union wage increases. The Compensation Board will also be provided the current budget.
(D) No later than June 1 of each year that the Compensation Board meets, the Compensation Board shall prepare a report to Council setting forth its recommendations for the Mayor and Council Members. Council shall, within thirty (30) days of receiving the report, either approve it by ordinance or, in the event a majority of the Council is not in favor thereof, reject it. The recommendations may not be amended or modified. In the event a recommendation submitted by the Compensation Board is rejected, Council may request the Compensation Board to reconvene and submit a revised report to Council. In the case of rejections, the existing salary shall prevail. In the case of approvals, the salaries shall go into effect on January 1 of the next year for any Council Member starting a new term of office. In-term pay increases are not allowed.
(E) The Mayor and Council Members, in addition, shall receive their actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their official duties.
(Amended 11/07/2017; 11/02/2021)