Dover council members debate increasing their compensation

By Leann Schenke
Posted 11/13/21

DOVER — In a Tuesday presentation that began with Scripture paraphrases — “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain” and “The worker deserves his wage” — Councilmen Ralph Taylor and Bill Hare pitched to increase City Council members’ compensation.

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Dover council members debate increasing their compensation

Posted

DOVER — In a Tuesday presentation that began with Scripture paraphrases — “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain” and “The worker deserves his wage” — Councilmen Ralph Taylor and Bill Hare pitched to increase City Council members’ compensation.

The proposal was outlined during a Legislative, Finance and Administration Committee meeting.

Following the presentation, Council President Roy Sudler made a motion that members’ compensation should mirror that of the Kent County Levy Court commissioners, at $33,422 a year. However, his proposal, which would boost council’s pay by $26,006, was met with opposition from multiple councilpersons.

Though asked to withdraw his motion, Councilman Sudler did not, saying his work is valuable and he should be appropriately paid for it. His motion failed.

“I’m absolutely opposed,” Councilman Fred Neil said.

After that dismissal, Councilman Neil motioned for a review of the competitiveness of city employees’ salaries first. When that process is complete, the council can then look into a compensation increase for themselves, he suggested.

That motion was approved by the committee. It moves to the full council for a vote in an upcoming business meeting.

Councilmen Taylor and Hare said reasons for increasing compensation include the time commitment of serving on council, attracting a bigger pool of candidates and keeping up with minimum-wage increases.

Council’s current salary is $7,416 a year, with the entity’s president earning $8,652 annually. Those amounts have not changed in 20 years. Members did see a pay cut in 2008, due to the Great Recession; however, that was restored in 2009.

Councilman Taylor said the pay rate established in 2001 was based on fewer meetings than the number currently held. It also was based on the minimum wage of the time, $5.15 an hour.

He went on to compare council’s compensation to other area municipalities’. In his presentation, Councilman Taylor also showed how the population totals each government serves affect pay rates, as well as how many meetings a year elected officials are expected to attend and the budget size they oversee.

The Levy Court commissioners — who serve a population of 180,000 compared to Dover’s 39,450 — earn $33,422 a year. Both Levy Court commissioners and Dover City Council are expected to attend 44 meetings annually.

He noted, however, that City Council manages a $170 million budget to Levy Court’s $76 million.

Wilmington City Council earns $29,000 a year for serving a population of 70,000. Each council member there is expected to attend 23 council and committee meetings. The council also is responsible for a $163.4 million budget.

Finally, the City Council of Annapolis, Maryland, which is similar in population to Dover, earns $19,653 for their service. Council members are to attend 36 meetings a year, plus committee meetings, and manage a $147 million budget.

Councilman Taylor continued by outlining three proposals for increasing the compensation rate. He called them a “framework” that can be added to or subtracted from.

The first proposal was to mirror Levy Court’s pay scale of $33,422 a year.

The second was pay based on participation. With each council member expected to attend 44 meetings a year, each would receive $500 a month. There would be $200 additional for every meeting attended, $200 for the annual retreat and $2,400 in pay for miscellaneous meetings and town halls. That proposal would mean each council person could earn up to $17,400 a year.

The final proposal was a flat rate of $15 a hour for a 25-hour workweek and 48 weeks a year — each council member would earn $18,000 a year.

Councilman Taylor said the amount of time each official needs to dedicate to the city has increased over the years. He added that three councilpersons have resigned midterm over the last three years due to the hours involved.

“There are others who would not seek reelection because of the enormous time commitment,” he said.

Given that minimum wage is increasing in the state — Delaware’s minimum wage is currently $9.25 an hour; however, it will increase over the next four years to $15 an hour — Councilman Taylor said pay at every level in the city needs to be boosted.

“That is something we just have to come to grips with,” he said. “City manager, everyone. Everyone is deserving of a pay raise. If the ability is there, I believe we need to pursue it.”
Prior to making his motion, Councilman Sudler agreed that those on council are deserving of more compensation.

“We put the work in. We still put the hours in. We just did a five-hour meeting yesterday,” he said. “We all are professionals, and I believe that we deserve a fair pay.”

Daniel Shevock, a Legislative, Finance and Administration Committee member, was the first to suggest that employees of Dover see an increase to their pay prior to the council raising its own rate.

“You never raise the boss’s salary without raising all the workers’ beforehand,” he said.

Jonathan Contant, another committee member, suggested tying any increase to “something that’s not controlled by the people who benefit by it,” like the consumer price index.

He said he was not opposed to increasing the amount each member gets paid per meeting they attend — noting that there is a huge time commitment. However, he cautioned against raising council’s compensation to the point where serving can become a career.

Mr. Contant suggested creating term limits if the pay is raised.

“I don’t want this to be a career opportunity for someone,” he said. “I want them to do this because it’s something that they want to do.”

Councilwoman Tricia Arndt, who began her term in May, said the time dedicated is much more than she anticipated.

“Yesterday, I saw my kids for all of 20 minutes,” she said. “Came home from work, came here. By the time I got home, they were in bed.”

While Councilwoman Arndt said compensation was not a factor in her choice to run, it might entice more to seek office.

“How many of us were unopposed when we took this on?” she asked. “Folks are not clamoring. They’re not knocking down doors to run, so that’s one thing I have in the back of my mind.”

Councilwoman Arndt noted it is uncomfortable to debate giving oneself a raise. She said she’s never held a position that allowed her to do so before.

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