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GOSHEN Goshens mayor will be getting a pay increase heading into the new year following action by the Goshen City Council on Tuesday evening.

At the meeting, council members approved an ordinance establishing the 2021 compensation for elected city officials, though not before first approving an amendment to the ordinance calling for an increase in the mayors salary in the form of an annual $5,000 longevity bonus.The mayor will receive a bi-weekly salary in 2021 of $3,665, plus the new $5,000 longevity bonus

INCREASE, WITH CONDITIONS

Council president Brett Weddell, R-at Large, was responsible for putting forward the amendment calling for the mayoral salary bump, which as approved reads as follows:

Commencing at the beginning of the mayors fifth year in office, the mayor shall receive a longevity increase in pay in the amount of $5,000 during each year the mayor serves as mayor. The longevity increase in pay shall be included in the mayors regular bi-weekly paycheck. This increase in pay shall not be considered as part of the compensation of the mayor when considering increases or decreases in the mayors pay.

So, the base salary is the same, Weddell explained, noting that for a new mayor to be eligible to receive the annual longevity bonus, they would need to be re-elected to another four-year term, and thus begin their fifth year in the position.

Ive been proposing, I think for three or four years at least, trying to increase the mayors salary a little bit. Before my time, councilman Everett Thomas tried unsuccessfully. I know there has been some pushback on this. I was hoping, in discussion with our city attorney, that this might be a little more palatable for some people, so that way an incoming new mayor isnt getting the increase right away, and this is showing a little bit of an appreciation for the hard work that a mayor is doing. So, thats the idea behind it.

Given that Stutsman is currently finishing out his fifth year in office, having been re-elected to his second four-year term in 2019, it was explained that he will immediately be eligible to receive the annual $5,000 longevity bonus.

PAY BUMP NEEDED?

Council member Julia King, D-at Large, upon hearing of the proposed amendment, said she did not feel such an increase is warranted, noting primarily that the mayors current pay scale is in line with the mayors of many similarly sized cities in the state.

If you look at the size of the city, the number of employees, the area median income, the mayoral pay in similar cities, kind of the educational requirements, coupled with state statue guidance... To me, it doesnt make sense, because were very much in alignment with all of those things, King said of the proposed pay increase. Goshen is above average, in my research.

She also noted that during previous discussions about such an increase, the council had agreed to hold off on such a change until a full survey of all city employee salaries had been conducted.

My recollection was, the last time we talked about this, we agreed that there was going to be an attempt to do a complete salary review of all employees before we brought this back again, King said. And I understand why it didnt happen this year. But, do I misremember that? That was my recollection. Because Im open to something like that once I know, kind of up and down the board, everyone is taken care of.

In response, Weddell said he would still be open to moving forward with such a salary review for the citys employees, though he felt that when it came to the mayors salary, an increase was warranted and should be pursued immediately.

Im not going to compare us to other communities. I look, and I know, what job the mayor of our city does. I know the hours that he works. I know how he puts personal responsibilities and family aside for this job, and theres no doubt in my mind that its underpaid, plain and simple, Weddell said. I dont really care to compare it to other communities. I dont know what their mayors do. ... I know whats going on in our community, and if I compare the job that our mayor is doing, what hes in charge of, and compare it to executives in other businesses education, manufacturing and whatnot I think that this is small potatoes so to speak.

INCENTIVE TO EXCEL

Council member Megan Eichorn, D-District 4, offered a similar sentiment in voicing her support for the increase.

I think what I like about this amendment is that, in most jobs, people expect, or have an expectation of a wage scale. So, everyone within the city has this wage scale that they know that when they start here, and they get to 10 years down the road, theyre going to be making this amount of money, and that theres an increase. For the mayors position, there isnt that option, Eichorn said. So, I do think that this, having a base pay, which a new mayor would come in at, is a fair piece. And then putting in five years of work, you get this longevity increase, I think its absolutely consistent with how other industries work with regard to knowing that if youre there for a certain amount of time, youre going to be making more money.

And it also, I think, incentivizes mayors who are doing a good job to continuing wanting to stay, she added. Given the amount of hours and time that the job requires, whether its personal choice to put that amount in, or the requirement of the job, or the situation that were in, I know at least our mayor works far more hours than the average person. So, I think that doing something like this is very reasonable.

In the end, a majority of the councils members agreed, and a motion to approve the ordinance amendment adding the annual $5,000 longevity increase to the mayors salary was passed in a vote of 5-2 in favor.

Voting for the amendment were council members Weddell; Eichorn; Jim McKee, R-District 1; Doug Nisley, R-District 2; and Matt Schrock, R-District 3. Voting against the amendment were council members King and Gilberto Perez Jr., D-District 5.

With the amendment approved, the council then voted unanimously on both first and second readings to approve the ordinance establishing the 2021 compensation for elected city officials as amended.

This was a surprise to me tonight, and I really appreciate the councils support and thoughtfulness of how hard Im working, Stutsman said of the pay bump prior to Tuesdays vote. I do appreciate that, and I appreciate working with each of you. So, thank you.

ELECTED OFFICIALS

As approved Tuesday, the clerk-treasurer will receive a bi-weekly salary of $2,793; the city judge will receive a bi-weekly salary of $2,007; and the seven city council members will receive bi-weekly salaries of $584.

The ordinance also notes that the mayor, clerk-treasurer and judge must enroll in the citys group health insurance plan, where the city will pay 80% of the total cost, or $347.09, and the mayor, clerk-treasurer and judge pay 20% of the cost, or $86.77, toward the cost of the weekly health insurance premium.

The judge and council members are not eligible to enroll in the citys group health insurance plan, as they are considered to be employees working 1,300 hours or less per year, and thus do not qualify for coverage.

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Goshen mayor to receive $5,000 bonus in 2021 | News - Goshen News

This entry was posted on December 16, 2020 at 9:56 pm and is filed under Longevity. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |