Fort Wright City Council is considering raising the base compensation for local elected officials, which hasn’t changed since 1998.
The fiscal year 2024-2025 budget includes the mayor’s annual salary of $7,472.96. City council members make $2,989.19 annually. With the standard 2.9% cost-of-living raise, the mayor will make $7,689.68 annually, and council members will make $3,075.88.
The cost-of-living raise will take effect on July 1. Fort Wright has implemented this adjustment suggested by the department of local government since 2019.
Councilmember Jason C. Collins discussed increasing the mayor’s base pay at the April 16 caucus meeting.
“Mayor Hatter is making not much more than $1 per resident,” Collins said. “I think we should look at increasing that number.”
Collins initially suggested increasing the compensation to $12,000 annually.
“I don’t think we should go above $10,000,” councilmember Jay Weber said.
Other council members said they didn’t give elected officials’ salaries much thought at all.
“I see this as my civic duty,” councilmember Bernie Wessels said. “You can take my salary away for all I care.”
Fort Wright City Administrator Jill Cain Bailey explained that a new base pay would not take immediate effect.
“Any new salary numbers adopted for elected officials don’t go into effect until a new city council [member] or mayor were to take office,” Bailey said. “Current elected officials will receive no benefit from the decision.”
The council agreed to keep city council members’ salaries the same and raise the mayor’s salary to a base of $8,000 annually. Future cost-of-living adjustments will continue to affect both numbers. The new base salary would go into effect in January 2027.
City Attorney John S. Brooking is drafting the ordinance to confirm this at the next council meeting on May 7.