St. Joseph City Commission Rejects 3% Pay Raise Recommendation

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St. Joseph City Commissioners don’t want a pay raise. The city’s Municipal Officers Compensation Commission met on Friday for the first time in four years and recommended a 3% increase in what the commissioners are paid, noting they hadn’t had a bump in eight years. The recommendation gave three options: do nothing and the raise would take effect automatically in 30 days; vote to approve it; or reject it. Commissioner Jeff Richards made the motion to turn down the extra money.

“We do a lot of work, but I didn’t get into this for the money,” he said, prompting a laugh from Mayor Pro Tem Laura Goos. The vote to turn down the raise was unanimous.

Had the new pay scale gone into effect, commissioners would have been paid an additional $76.50 per year, equal to $1.47 per week, up to $2,626.50, while the mayor pro-tem would have earned an extra $91.50 annually, and the mayor’s pay would have increased by $153 a year.