Charlotte council could give itself raises Monday. How does pay compare?
The Charlotte City Council could give itself a pay raise on Monday when it finalizes next year’s budget.
Heading into the meeting, the mayor is on track to receive a 10% pay bump compared to last year and bring the total compensation to $80,237. Council members would receive 6.4% raises to give themselves compensations of $68,348. If approved, the raises will take effect July 1.
But how does their pay compare to other cities?
Charlotte mayor makes considerably less than peer cities
A commission that makes salary recommendations for officials in Columbus, Ohio, analyzed what peer cities are paying their mayors. Charlotte is the 14th largest city in the country, and Columbus is 15th.
The analysis found Charlotte’s pay trails most comparable cities even with the proposed raise in next year’s budget.
Many peer cities do not have city managers, however, and therefore pay their mayors higher salaries to account for added responsibilities. Charlotte has one of the highest-paid city managers in the nation.
The Charlotte mayor has a base salary of $49,774 with a proposed raise to $57,054. The mayor also receives technology, expense and auto allowances, bringing her total projected compensation above $80,000 from $72,901.
Columbus found the median base salary for mayors across the 23 cities it analyzed was $170,026, more than twice as much as Charlotte. The analysis did not account for additional allowances, but even if it had, Charlotte would still fall in roughly the same spot near the back of the pack.
Charlotte ranked 21st in mayoral base salary, ahead of only Virginia Beach and Fort Worth.
Mayor Vi Lyles plans to resign this month once the City Council names her replacement. A new mayor is slated to take office July 1, the first day of the new fiscal year, so Lyles would not benefit from the raise.
Charlotte City Council trails peer cities’ salary
The same commission found Charlotte will also remain below the median city council member salary after raises take effect.
Charlotte Council members made a base salary of $41,600 this year, or $64,251 with allowances. The proposed budget will raise their salary to $45,644, bringing their total compensation to $68,348.
The median base salary for councils across peer cities was $78,707, according to the Columbus compensation commission.
It is worth noting that not every city has the same number of council members. Cincinnati, which notches just above Charlotte in salary, has nine members. And Lexington, Kentucky, pays about the same as Charlotte but has 15 council members.
Even so, the commission found Charlotte council members serve more residents per member than most of their peers at more than 80,000 each. The median was about 47,500.
Serving on the City Council is not considered a full-time job despite regular meetings during normal work hours. Most members balance city duties with outside careers.
