City Council Squabbles over Sacrifice – By the Numbers

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Tipp City Council's pay was set back when this guy was in office...

This evening, City Council members reviewed two ordinances, one that would require super-majority vote (5-2). The first would eliminate health care benefits for members of City Council and the second would raise the pay of City Council members from $1,000 to $5,000 (requiring 5 votes).

Proposed Health Care Ordinance

The ordinance read as follows: An ordinance amending 37.31 of the Tipp City Code of Ordinances to require members of council who elect health insurance coverage to pay 100% of the premiums for said health insurance coverage. The ordinance was proposed by President Hale as there were several residents that objected to council receiving health insurance benefits. (as well documented in several threads on this site) Hale stated that in order to help cut to the overall “cost of Council” he and other members would be willing to forgo health insurance benefit, and balance their pay with that of other city councils.

Hale presented some research he performed last week, including a list of 23 cities who pay their city council members. We have represented the data below showing Tipp City council members are paid less than all 23 of the surveyed communities. Those communities that provide healthcare to their council members are represented with an asterisk*.

City Population Annual Salary Dollars Per Resident
Brecksville 13000 16500 1.27
Bellvue 8400 9000 1.07
Blue Ash 13000 13369 1.03
Beachwood 12000 12000 1
Avon 15000 12500 0.83
Springdale 11000 7875 0.72
Loveland 11500 7200 0.63
Bedford 7000 4000 0.57
Cheviot* 10000 5500 0.55
Avon Lake 18000 9500 0.53
Bexley* 13000 6360 0.49
Dover 12000 5755 0.48
Ashland* 21000 9000 0.43
Celina 11000 4500 0.41
Aurora 15000 6000 0.4
Clayton 13000 4800 0.37
Galion 11500 4200 0.37
Athens 21000 7462 0.36
Bellfontaine* 13000 4600 0.35
Troy 22000 7649 0.35
Vandalia* 14500 5000 0.34
Piqua 20000 5000 0.25
Sidney 18000 3000 0.17
Tipp City* 10000 1000 0.1

Unlike prior City Councils when all members received the same amount of pay and benefits, this one has a varied mix of pay and benefits with some receiving benefits and then paying them back to the City, and others gettng “the full boat” of compensation and benefits. Counciman Gibson receives no benefits, choosing to pay back all benefits to the City of Tipp City, Black and Budding while they receive no health care, have retained the “buy-out” dollars, making their total compensation $2,800/year ($1,000 stipend + $1,800 buyout) which Councilman Budding considered, “fair compensation”.

Discussion of Fair Compensation

While the two ordinances proposed by President Hale would cut an estimated $24,500 from the annual expenses for City Council, for the three newest members it was not enough. Councilman Budding suggested that he would be in favor of cutting compensation down to $1,000/year for members and eliminating health care, ensuring that ALL members, including himself, received a pay cut.

In closing comments, Councilman Lovett stated that council members “should be treated fairly and appropriately” and that pay should be adjusted to “reflect current, fair compensation practices”. Lovett went on to thank President Hale for putting together the proposed ordinances and that the proposal was “well thought out” and that to adopt the position of Mr. Budding and Mr. Gibson is “extreme” and “I can’t vote for that”. Lovett stated that he estimated he has put in 500 hours in the past year on Council and that the work is “far more involved than being a volunteer”.

Councilman Kessler defended the proposed ordinance by taking the historical approach, “The $1,000 Council compensation was estsablished in 1977.. 34 years ago, $1,000 was a significant stipend to be awarded, but in today’s dollars it is not significant, nor is it comparable to other cities in our region”.

President Hale was upset with the position taken by Councilman Budding, Black and Gibson. “It amazes me that the three councilmembers who were so vocally against Council’s access to health care benefits were so silent and against any motion to slash Council’s total expense to the City.” He continued, “I met with several members of the community this week who are vocally against Council receiving healthcare benefits, and they were 100% behind our efforts to cut costs and replace the ever increasing variable of healthcare, with a fair and static compensation ($5,000)” 

Results

Council required a super-majority vote to raise their compensation level, and as it was clear that Budding, Gibson and Black were not going to vote in support of the ordinances, both were tabled by President Hale for lack of support. There was some indication from several members of Council that the ordinance to remove health care benefits may come back around in future sessions.

A Taxing Time

Having put an income tax on the May 3rd ballot, City Council is poised to look for more ways to reduce expenses, pare down employee counts and now cut their own benefits. The City is looking at a $200,000 budget shortfall and it’s fourth year without funding for street resurfacing.