How much members of the Taylor City Council should be paid for their roles sparked outrage and debate during the latter months of 2023. The Council’s ordinance passed in the summer, but events are still unfolding as the new year begins.
Compensation committee recommends pay increase
At the July 5 compensation committee meeting, members voted to recommend a pay increase from $25 to $250 per month for all council members.
They decided the raise should go into effect incrementally as new members are elected or current ones are re-elected beginning in June 2024 and going through June 2026.
The Council Compensation Committee recommended a more moderate pay increase for council members after a public outcry during the previous fall over a proposed City Council compensation increase from $25 to $1,200 and $1,500 per month was voted down.
Each member of council appointed a member to the ad hoc compensation committee that included Jose Orta, Stacy Stork, Alex Allrich, Jorge Muñoz and Richard Stone, who met June 20 and July 5.
Council ignores committee, OK’s larger pay raise
At the July 27 meeting, the Taylor City Council voted 3-2 to increase their own stipends from $25 to $1,000 per month and to $1,500 per month for the mayor’s position, effective Oct. 1, despite the committee recommending at the meeting a much lower raise to $250 per month for all elected officials, including the mayor, taking effect incrementally over several election cycles.
Rydell, Mayor Pro Tem Gerald Anderson and District 4 Councilman Robert Garcia voted in favor of the more significant increase, while At-large Councilman Dwayne Ariola and District 2 Councilman Mitch Drummond voted against the number.
Garcia, before introducing the much higher pay increase, said he understood when he was elected that the compensation was just $12.50 per meeting, but said the scope of the job was much larger than just attending two meetings.
After the meeting, Orta said he was “bitterly disappointed” over the outcome, given the amount of time the committee had spent on the matter.
Council approves ordinance after hearings
Taylor City Council members voted to give themselves a pay raise Aug. 17, in spite of several residents voicing objections during a packed special meeting.
Leaders voted 3-2 in favor of the hike after holding two back-to-back public hearings during the session. Both the meeting room and an overflow area were filled with residents eager to either address the council or witness how they would vote.
While almost all of the citizen speakers were against the ordinance, District 1 Councilman Gerald Anderson said he believes he voted with Taylor’s best intentions in mind. He said increasing compensation will encourage a wider range of people to run for positions.
Councilman Drummond was in favor of increasing the salary, but thought the council should have gone with the committee’s recommendation.
Petition started to reverse council pay increase
Following the Aug. 17 meeting where the City Council voted for its pay stipend to increase, a group of residents, including Terry Burris, met to brainstorm possible methods of combating the ordinance.
Burris and other residents against the large pay increase decided to formulate a petition to put the ordinance up for a vote on a future ballot.
According to the city charter, a petition to protest an approved ordinance must be signed by 10% of the number of qualified voters residing in the city. Additionally, the petition must be made within 30 days of its passage.
At the time, Burris figured that he needed to receive about 1,500 signatures by Sept. 15 in order for the referendum to be placed in the hands of voters.
Petition on council compensation reaches goal
The Taylor City Council compensation saga entered its next phase after the referendum goal was met.
The petition protesting the Council’s decision to increase their own compensation collected enough signatures to put the final say in the hands of voters come May.
Burris, who started the petition, revealed during the meeting Sept. 14 that 1,345 signatures were gathered, although only 940 were needed for the referendum to be valid.
The petition was then sent to the city clerk’s office to verify that the names are eligible voters.
While the Council’s compensation increase remained effective in the meantime, Burris said simply hearing everybody’s stories and giving them an opportunity to have their voices heard has been powerful.
Petition aims to amend city charter
Another petition began circulating in October to revise the city charter, which defines how city officials can operate.
A number of residents, largely spearheaded by Gary Gola, were attempting to undo the pay raise by amending the city charter. If enacted, this petition would set council compensation at $125 per meeting for each council member and the mayor position.
In addition to setting the stipends at $250 a month, the petition listed three other propositions to be placed on the May ballot.
The second proposition would amend the charter to require a minimum of 72 hours between meetings from the time a nonemergency ordinance is introduced to the time it can be adopted, which Gola said stemmed from the back-to-back public hearings held for the council compensation ordinance.
The petition also calls for the at-large position to serve as the mayor, which Gola said allows every resident to vote for the position. Currently, the mayor is selected by the Council.
Lastly, the petition wants to amend the charter to require all council meetings to be held within the Taylor city limits.
For all four propositions to be seen on next year’s ballot, Gola and his team had to collect signatures from 5% of registered voters by sometime in February.
Vote on council pay raise set for May
At the regular meeting of the Taylor City Council Nov. 16, city leaders voted to set a referendum on whether the ordinance should remain in effect on the May 2024 ballot in response to a successful petition led by community members.
In addition, the council directed staff to move forward with forming a charter committee after a second petition drive calling for an amendment to the city’s charter was submitted as well.
Despite At-large Councilman Dwayne Ariola expressing support for the citizen’s effort to curb the pay raise, he emphasized more caution with quickly amending the charter, due to the intricacies of setting up a new system with how the mayor is chosen and establishing the duties of the mayor as the city grows.
Rydell also called for a slower process supervised by a legal expert in charter amendments to time the referendum with the presidential election in November 2024.
Charter election moves forward
During the Dec. 14 Taylor City Council meeting, the Council received an update that the charter petition was validated by Williamson County officials.
Jeff Jenkins, deputy city manager, told Council he will bring the proposed ballot wording to the Jan. 11 meeting.
By state law, city charters may not be amended more often than every two years, so if any of the charter amendments pass, they will be in effect for at least that long, and it will be that long before new charter amendments can be added.
Jenkins said the charter attorney recommended not convening a charter committee until after the election, potentially in 2025 nearer to the date when the next charter election could be held if any of the amendments pass.
Jenkins gave the following timeline, the Jan. 11 meeting should be for reviewing the resolution or ordinance to call for an election. The Jan. 25 and Feb. 8 meetings were said to be used to review any changes. Feb. 16 would be the last day to call for election and may require a specialcalled council meeting if not approved at previous meetings.
