Gadsden Council considering council pay raises

With Gadsdens city elections six months away, the Gadsden City Council is considering pay raises for the cities next mayor and council.

The issue was brought up Tuesday by Councilman Robert Avery, a majority of the council seemed to favor some type of raise, but there was could not agree on an amount. Avery said any pay raises for elected city officials would have to be acted on by next week’s council meeting since the law requires any raises in mayor and council salaries to be approved six months prior to an election. City elections will be Aug. 26.  Avery proposed increasing the mayor’s salary from $90,000 to $110,000, a 22.2 percent increase. The mayor’s salary went from $75,000 to $90,000 in 2006.

The council president’s pay is set at 12 percent of the mayor’s salary plus $100 per weekly meeting attended. Council member salaries are set at 9.6 percent of the mayor’s salary plus $100 per weekly meeting attended.

Mayor Sherman Guyton, who was not at the meeting, has said he is opposed to the increase.