Council pay raises can be awkward

Even the Rock Hill City Council members who voted to give the mayor and council a pay raise no doubt found it awkward to do so. But at least the process was open and above-board.

The council voted 4-3 last week to approve a 3 percent raise for the mayor and council using a formula recommended by a citizens group in 2013. The mayor’s annual pay will increase to $27,208 from the current $26,416, an increase of $792. Council members’ pay will rise to $17,323 from $16,819, an increase of $504.

The pay increases won’t become effective until January 2018, after the next cycle of council elections.

The council agreed to a system of reviewing pay every two years after the last pay hike in 2013. That was the first time the council had looked at its pay scale in 25 years, and members voted to nearly double their pay.

The process of reviewing council pay every two years is, in large part, an effort to avoid going another quarter of a century without an increase. Nonetheless, three council members voted against the raise.

One of them, Kevin Sutton, complained that approving the raise still is too easy. He believes the decision “should be painful” and that it should not be part of the budget process.

It could be worse, though. Congress, for example, receives an automatic pay raise unless a majority of members oppose it.

We think the process used by the city is transparent enough so that voters can be aware of pay increases and know exactly what the mayor and council are paid. And the raises are delayed, so these elected officials can be held accountable in the next election. The percentage of the increases also can be no higher than those received during the same time period by city employees.

Even with the pay increase, the salary for the mayor and council members is hardly a king’s ransom. The money is clearly meant to supplement other sources of income rather than serve as a primary living wage.

But, as Councilman Jim Reno noted, the pay can be a deciding factor for some potential candidates. If you want to attract talented people, he said, you have to offer reasonable pay.

“With low pay, nobody steps forward. You don’t have contested races.”

Our primary concern is that the pay raises could become almost automatic, rubber-stamped every two years by the council. Many city residents haven’t received a raise since the economy went south eight years ago or, if they have, it has been a token one.

We realize that any increases in pay for the council is geared to increases for city employees, but the general state of the economy should be part of the consideration, too. Maybe the council should review raises only once every four years.

Again, though, people don’t run for mayor or the city council because of the high salaries. There are other, more important motivations, including a desire to serve their fellow citizens and to ensure that Rock Hill is a safe, clean, well-managed city.

If we paid our elected officials for all they do in that regard, their salaries would be a lot higher.

This story was originally published July 5, 2016 at 6:06 PM with the headline "Council pay raises can be awkward."