Parkersburg City Council Committee Considers Pay Increases for Elected Officials | News, sports, jobs

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PARKERSBURG – Members of the Parkersburg City Council Finance Committee will meet today to discuss proposals to increase the salaries of elected officials.

Ordinances on the agenda for the 6 p.m. meeting in the executive conference room on the second floor of the Municipal Building would increase the mayor’s annual salary from $90,000 to $110,000 and change council members’ pay to give them $125 per meeting attended on top of their base salary of $6,000.

The committee will also consider a resolution to revise the budget to add $27,883 to the municipal sales tax revenue projection, based on first quarter receipts, and transfer that money to items to cover those increases from January to June , the end of the fiscal year.

The salary increases, if proposed by the committee and approved in two readings by the full council, would not take effect until the new four-year term begins in January. Under state law, the mayor and council cannot receive a raise during their current terms, City Attorney Blaine Myers said.

The mayor’s salary was last increased at the end of 2020, from $80,000 to $90,000. Mayor Tom Joyce did not immediately return a call seeking comment Wednesday.

Council President Mike Reynolds said he did not propose the change to council members’ pay because he said it was last increased more than a decade ago, but he is pleased with the approach.

“It is a pay increase, but it will be a pay increase for the council members who are active and are going to come to the meetings.” he said. “We have had problems in the past with one or two people not wanting to come to the meeting.”

Reynolds is returning for the new term and was re-elected earlier this month, along with Councilmembers Sharon Kuhl, Wendy Tuck and Cathy Dailey and Councilmember Chris Rexroad. Councilman Jesse Cottrille and council members Bob Mercer and Zach Stanley did not seek new terms. Councilman JR Carpenter was narrowly dethroned by William “Bag” Huffman, who is joined by newly elected council members Roger Brown and Andrew Borkowski.

Evan Bevins can be reached at [email protected]