By Shaun Szkolnik
For The Tribune
TRUSSVILLE – The Trussville City Council unanimously approved an ordinance to increase the salary of the mayor and the council at its regular meeting Tuesday night. Per state law, this pay increase will not go into effect until after the next election and once a new term has begun in November of 2020.
See related: Proposed salary increases for Trussville mayor, city council on tonight’s agenda
The ordinance, 2018-037, provides for a 43 percent increase in the next mayor’s salary and a 33 percent increase in the next city council’s salary over the current pay rate for the offices.
Before the vote, Councilman Alan Taylor made the case for why an increased salary for the next mayor was needed.
“Our mayor here in Trussville is the CEO,” Taylor said. “He is the city manager, we don’t have a city manager. Some cities have a part-time mayor and a city manager. And so, we asked Ms. Salter if she would give us research to the finance committee about what the total compensation package is for cities that surround us for both of those; because we don’t have two, we have one and he does serve as the city manager, as well as the mayor and CEO of the city. So, she got us that information and we felt like, from the financial committee, that we are woefully behind; especially considering the progress this city is making and all the other things. We felt like we were behind other cities in this, and so we are bringing a recommendation from the finance committee to the council that in the next administration, beginning in 2020, the mayor’s salary be raised to $9,000 a month.”
Currently, the mayor earns $6,300 per month for an annual salary of $75,600. The last city council set the current salary in 2016. The current salary is an increase from the previous mayor’s salary of $60,000, which was set by the council in 1998.
The ordinance also increases the council and council president pay to $1,000 per month for an annual salary of $12,000. This change will not take effect until the next term in November of 2020.
In other news, the council unanimously approved ordinance 2018-034PNZ, which annexed 625 and 6454 Service Road.
The council also unanimously passed ordinance 2018-035PMZ, which rezoned 7550 Gadsden Highway from Institutional 1 to Commercial 1, with conditions.