City of Alexandria, Virginia
_________
MEMORANDUM
DATE: DECEMBER 4, 2015
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: MARK B. JINKS, CITY MANAGER /s/
DOCKET TITLE:
TITLE
Public Hearing, Second Reading and Final Passage of an Ordinance Increasing Mayor, Council Members and Council Aides Annual Salaries. [ROLL-CALL VOTE]
BODY
_________________________________________________________________
ISSUE: Whether or not, and if so by how much, to increase the Mayor and Council members' salaries for the January 2016 through December 2019 Council term?
RECOMMENDATION: Consider whether to approve on first reading and set for public hearing on December 12, an ordinance establishing the Mayor's annual salary at $50,000 and Council members' annual salaries at $45,000 starting in 2016 (these are placeholder amounts for Council discussion purposes).
BACKGROUND: At its November 24 meeting, Council discussed whether or not to increase its annual salaries for the upcoming term of Council. Council salaries were last increased to $30,500 for the Mayor and $27,500 for Council members effective with the Council term beginning July 2003. Alexandria Mayor and Council members' salaries are currently the lowest in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region for a major local governing body.
City Council salaries are set by ordinance, and such an elected official salary-setting ordinance under the City Charter is required to be in place prior to the next Council taking office in January 2016. If Council approves a change, Council would need to take final action on the ordinance at its December 12 meeting. Absent any action, the annual Mayor and Council members' salaries would remain at the current levels through at least 2019.
When setting elected officials' salaries, comparing elected officials' salaries with neighboring jurisdictions is a reasonable way to benchmark salary levels. Staff prepared this benchmark as of November 2015, and ...
Click here for full text