Taylor’s leaders are taking the pulse of the community on whether to increase the City Council’s pay.
Thursday night, the city will hold its first public hearing to introduce an ordinance to raise the pay for the mayor from $25 per month to $1,964 per month, and from $25 per month to $1,528 per month for City Council members, which is in line with the compensation formulas the City of Georgetown uses.
At the council’s regular meeting Oct. 13, city leaders voted 3-2 to move forward with this pay increase, with At-large Councilman Dwayne Ariola and District 2 Councilman Mitchell Drummond voting against the action, saying other members of the community should decide the issue.
“I do think we have been long overdue in adjusting compensation for the council,” said Mayor Brandt Rydell. “I do think there is a benefit in setting it up almost as a recruitment tool.”
But one Taylor resident used the citizens communication portion of the meeting to express her disapproval.
“Council members, you were elected by the constituents in your district, and also the at large council member, was elected by all of those in the districts,” said Jackie Krueger. “We are your boss. A boss gives a raise, not the employees giving themselves a raise.”
Despite the divided vote, all five members of council agreed that the current rate of $25 a month, which was put in place in 2006, made it difficult to attract people to run for city offices because of the large time commitment required and other factors.
“This job is only afforded to people who can afford to spend time doing this job,” said District 1 Councilman Gerald Anderson. “That is, retirees or somebody with a large stream of income. If you have somebody that’s a parent who might be really good at the job but might need day care or to pay for a sitter, then we are asking them to pay out of their pocket.”
Drummond and Ariola said they agreed a pay increase probably was needed, but that it should be decided upon by people other than themselves.
“We are having difficulty finding candidates, and we have to entice somebody who has to sit up here; it’s a lot of work,” Drummond said. “It’s not that we want the money … I don’t think we should be deciding. We should get a board of community members and let them decide.”
Ariola echoed a similar sentiment, saying any pay increases should be done by others and in coordination with a revision to the city charter to allow people to elect a mayor, rather than fellow members of the council.
“People always laugh when I tell them it’s $25 (per month), and we are basically volunteers,” Ariola said. “But we knew that when we ran for office … I would like to change the charter, so constituents have more say on who the mayor is.”
In other business, at Thursday’s meeting, council will also receive an update from Langford Community Management Services, a consultant for the city, on the status of several federal and state grant-funded projects, including Taylor Regional, Doak and Percussion parks improvements through the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and homes built in Taylor through the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs HOME program. In addition, council will hear about new grant opportunities with Texas Department of Transportation, Williamson County and the General Land Office.
The Taylor City Council regularly meets the second and fourth Thursday of each month at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 400 Porter St. in Taylor. Agendas and live broadcasts are available at http://www.taylortx.gov.
