Salary increases still leave city with surplus

Wages once again became a topic of extended discussion at city council’s Monday meeting. Mayor Butch Berry requested council to amend Ord. 2319, which raised the mayor’s salary to $48,000, and lower the raise to $36,000. He told council he felt that $36,000 was a satisfactory raise and that he didn’t believe a higher salary would attract more qualified individuals to run.

Alderman Bill Ott motioned to amend the ordinance and it nearly failed at the table, but alderman Terry McClung seconded to allow alderman Melissa Greene to speak.

Greene explained that the job of mayor was more than a part-time position. She referenced the difficulty of making a living wage in comparison to the average cost of living in Eureka Springs as further points for the raise. Aldermen Autumn Slane and Nick Roberts echoed the same sentiments.

Slane said the raise is being made to encourage whoever is mayor to focus solely on that position. Roberts referenced last month’s council meeting saying that it was generally agreed that Eureka Springs, when defining salaries for City Clerk and Mayor, was equivalent to a 10,000 population. He said the average pay for that size of city is $75,000 so the $48,000 was not enough to match anyway and “if you think $36,000 is enough that’s on your conscious.”

The motion failed 4-2 with Ott and McClung voting Yes.

Continuing with wage increases, council was given a handout summarizing the budgetary impact of raising the city’s minimum salaries to $15 an hour. Future Finance Director Michael Akins explained the finance department only looked at those currently working below a $15 an hour and those who had not received a raise recently.

Eureka Springs is currently operating with a $697,000 surplus and the net effect would cost the city an additional $120,000 annually leaving a $577,000 surplus. Akins mentioned that police and fire departments were not included, as adjustments had already been made in their budgets for raises. He also said adjustments were not made for part-time employees. He said that the situation with part-time employees varied too much and that some refused raises, not wanting to hit certain income thresholds.

Slane questioned why an employee with 13 years’ experience and another with three years were given the same raise in the budget impact summary. It was explained that the finance department only considered whether the employees were below a $15 an hour salary and that department heads would have to decide the actual raises. Department heads will now need to put the raises to pen, and council will need to approve the amended budget.

Other Items

• Council amended the resolution regarding the city adopting VALIC Retirement plan to the correct number of 818. The original vote had it listed as Res. 817 which was a previously used number.
• Berry will ask the Chair of the Planning Commission to speak with council at their next meeting on progress on tackling residential parking.
• A single bid of $28,000 for a city owned lot on Main St. was not approved. The lot was appraised at $55,000 and had been advertised as open for bid for three weeks. Greene motioned to have a sign placed on the property and to be listed online as well for 45 more days, which succeeded 4-2 with Roberts and McClung voting No.