| | | | The mayor and board are responsible for many decisions on behalf of the public, and anyone who wants to know how and why the board decides something is welcome to observe and participate.
Recently the board entertained discussion of a proposed salary increase in meetings on three separate occasions over a six week period, all of which were advertised as open to the public. The board voted to accept the committee’s recommendation to raise salaries of elected officials commencing the next administration, beginning July 1, 2009. At a subsequent meeting it was explained it a fourth time.
Although an article in the Oxford Eagle correctly reported the essence of the board’s vote and deliberations, an opinion editorial written by the Daily Mississippian’s editorial board criticized the mayor and board for “raising their salaries,” and many in the community have become confused about what has happened. Here are the facts:
The board did not vote on a raise for itself. According to city ordinance, prior to one year before the subsequent municipal administration (July 1, 2009), a sitting board must appoint a committee to review and recommend to the board any salary change.
Based upon that recommendation, the raise the board voted on is for those who assume office after the next election, which, indeed, may include some of the same people who are presently in office, but in fact could be anyone who is qualified to run, which means anyone living in Oxford and registered to vote.
The mayor and aldermen's salaries have been the same since the current administration began, just as in the previous administration they remained the same for four years in a row. The current board deliberately has never voted to give itself a raise.
The board has, however, voted for a cost of living increase for all city employees exclusive of the mayor and board, in addition to numerous merit raises and promotions with accompanying raises for city employees, each year for the past seven years, and likely will again in the next budget.
For each of the past four years, that has been a minimum of three percent per year. In other words, the twelve percent raise for city officials in the next administration is precisely the same as the minimum it has been for city employees -- except that twelve percent begins over the next four years for elected officials, not the past four years, as it has for city employees.
The city's financial condition is excellent, and one need only inquire to gain this information. The city is over budget on the line for cost of fuel -- as virtually every other government, business, household, or organization presently is -- but city officials compensated a shortfall in the fuel line by savings from other lines. The city is not, as some have said, “in the red.”
A copy of the elected officials’ compensation committee report is available.
If you have further questions, please contact Mayor Howorth at mayorrh@oxfordms.net or at 232 2340, or City Clerk Lisa Carwyle at lcarwyle@oxfordms.net or 232 2312.
107 Courthouse Square Oxford, MS 38655 Phone: (662) 236-1310 Fax: (662) 232-2337
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