Mayor Suthers reacts to being told he'll miss out on a $15,000 raise when he leaves office in June.
Whoever's elected mayor on May 16 to succeed two-termer Mayor John Suthers, they'll see a whopping raise in the mayor's annual pay upon taking office.
This isn't some nefarious machination at work, but rather mere compliance with the voter-approved change from council-city manager form of government to council-strong mayor form back in 2010.
The formula for change every four years is based on the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index - For All Urban.
For all you mathematicians out there who make the rest of us feel dumb, here's how it works, from the ordinance pending for Council action in May:
"The adjustment to the salary of the Mayor, as prescribed by City Charter § 13-20(a), is derived through the following formula (("2022 annual CPI-U" - "2018 annual CPI-U") / "2018 annual CPI-U") x "current annual salary" = dollar amount of "increase in annual salary."
For the rest of us, here ya go: The raise will be $15,581, bringing the new mayor's annual pay to $129,740.
Some would argue that for a person who has to shepherd city services from public safety to parks to roads, that's a bargain.
Others would say, well, you know what they would say.
Here's the list of salaries since voters installed their first strong mayor, Steve Bach.
In 2011, $96,000.
In 2015, $103,370.
In 2019, $114,159.
Oh, and the recipient of the new salary will either be Wayne Williams or Yemi Mobolade.
Vote.