Among the many budget cuts discussed at the March 9th Municipal Budget meeting, one item “Mayor and Council – Salaries and Wages” was altered for the first time in years. With the looming date of March 17th for municipal budget introduction, the governing body determined that they would take a retroactive 10% pay cut, reflective of January 1, 2011.
Compensation for the Mayor and Council is broken down into two parts. Each of the six (6) members of Council receives $8,993.76, and the Mayor receives $11,991.68 annually. With this cut implemented, each member of council will receive a $899.38 pay decrease, and the Mayor will receive a $1,199.17 decrease. The mayor went ahead and cut his salary further by an additional $404.55 to make it an even $7,000.00 reduction in the budget.
This specific measure requires a formal resolution by Mayor and Council. The vote on the resolution will take place at the next regularly scheduled meeting of Mayor and Council, on Thursday, March 17, 2011. With only one (1) member of council absent from Wednesday night’s meeting, and all others in favor of the measure, it looks as if the governing body will take a pay decrease for the first time in nearly a decade.