St. Joseph City Commissioners have turned down a pay increase after the city Municipal Officers Compensation Commission recommended one for them.
At a meeting this week, commissioners were told the MOCC met in October to review the salaries of elected officials, as is required every two years. It recommended a 4% increase, based on inflation and other economic considerations. Commissioners then had the choice to take no action and let the pay increase happen, or to vote against it.
Commissioners Michael Fernandez, Michael Sarola, and Tess Ulrey all chimed in.
“I don’t believe in free labor, but I could get behind just declining a pay increase,” Fernandez said. “I certainly don’t need that.”
“I’m fine with that,” Sarola said. “It’s symbolic more than anything. It’s $6 per meeting. That’s fine. We’ll stay the same. So people know that we’re committed to trying to find efficiencies where we can. We just found$6 per meeting times five.”
“And I think that’s important, that we just look at all these all these small, small pieces,” Ulrey said.
Ulrey then made a motion to turn down the raise.
With only four of five commissioners present on Monday, the vote to reject the pay increase needed to be unanimous. Mayor Brook Thomas joined the three commissioners to make that happen.
The MOCC’s recommendation would have increased the mayor’s salary to $5,824 per year, the mayor pro tem’s salary to $3,744, and the rest of the commissioners to $3,224.
