Parkersburg City Council committee to consider raising rates for elected officials | News, Sports, Vacancies

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

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 the salaries of council members so they would receive $125 for each meeting attended on top of their base pay. . salary $6000.

The committee will also consider a resolution to revise the budget to add $27,883 to projected municipal sales tax revenues based on first-quarter receipts and move that money into line items to cover that increase from January through June, the end of the fiscal year.

The salary increase, if proposed by committee and approved on two readings by the full council, would not take effect until new four-year terms begin in January. According to state code, the mayor and council cannot receive salary increases during their current terms of office, according to City Attorney Blaine Myers.

The last time the mayor’s salary was increased was 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 has not proposed changing council members’ salaries, which he said were last raised more than 10 years ago, but he likes the approach.

“This is a salary increase, but it will be a salary increase for active board members who will come to meetings,” – he said. “We’ve had problems in the past with one or two people who didn’t want to come to the meeting.”

Reynolds will return for another term, having won re-election earlier this month along with councilwomen Sharon Kuhl, Wendy Tuck and Kathy Daly, and Councilman Chris Rexroad. Councilman Jesse Cottrill and councilmen Bob Mercer and Zach Stanley did not seek new terms. Councilman J.R. Carpenter was narrowly ousted by William. “Zack” Huffman, who will be joined by elected council members Roger Brown and Andrew Borkowski.

Evan Bevins can be reached at [email protected].