On the EDge: 66 percent pay hike for council, mayor? Really?

December 10, 2018 Utah Channel 3

OPINION — Santa came early to the St. George city government when his helpers voted unanimously Thursday to hike the pay of the mayor and City Council by a hefty 66 percent.

As a result, the mayor will now earn $50,000 annually and council members will be paid $20,000 a year. Previously, council members were paid $12,000 a year and the mayor received $30,000.

The rationale, of course, is that the last time the council voted itself a pay hike was 1996.

“Elected office, of course, is voluntary – nobody forces you to run – but as with other cities and towns, we do provide compensation to the mayor and the City Council in recognition of the costs that you incur in the office, both in terms of money and time,” City Manager Adam Lenhard said.

I’m not quite sure which costs Lenhard is talking about. I would imagine that they would go beyond legitimate mileage, travel and entertainment expenditures that are accumulated in the course of doing the city’s business.

“We know that you can’t make a living off of your city paycheck, and all of you rely on employment elsewhere to make ends meet,” Lenhard said. “But hopefully the compensation that you’re provided offsets the cost just enough so that elected office is something that anyone in our community could be involved with.”

It’s a matter of proportion, however, when you realize that the council will be earning just about as much as the average St. George resident, who makes $25,616 a year – far below the national average.

There is no problem with elected officials being compensated for their work, but serving as mayor or on the council in St. George is, in reality, nothing more than a part-time gig and should be compensated as such.

The bustling metropolis of St. George is growing, to be sure, but it certainly isn’t bustling enough to warrant such a substantial pay hike for elected officials.

This is an insult to the working men and women of the city when a city manager claims that the compensation for an elected official – especially the new rates approved last week – will not allow them to “make a living off their city paycheck” when that city paycheck is in line with what constituents are earning.

It was bad spin by Lenhard who was defending a bad decision by the council.

We hear a lot about how elected officials claim they run for office as a matter of public service, but that claim of service is tarnished when they start padding their paychecks.

Lenhard claims that this will, perhaps, increase the number of people interested in running for public office, but the thing is with more money on the table, all it does is encourage candidates to spend more money to get elected because, well, who couldn’t use an extra $20,000 or $50,000 a year by taking a part-time job, which, despite all the claims, is what this is.

What makes this hypocritical, however, is the fact that St. George is a hotbed of conservatism, which preaches loud and strong about fiscal responsibility. This pay hike is not in line with that philosophy.

Now, you’re not going to put these elected officials on the clock. If you paid them by the hour I am sure their compensation would not match what they will now be collecting. Being generous, council members and the mayor simply do not put in the hours to warrant the raises.

They hold down full-time jobs, as Lenhard said, and city business at this level just does not require that much time. Figure, generously, that a typical council meeting runs four or five hours and that there is some prep time involved to study the issues and talk to people. There are some committee assignments, of course, and boards they oversee, but this is still a part-time job, even though the council is making just about the equivalent of your average St. George resident and the mayor doubling that amount.

There is no particular skill set required to run for office, there are no educational requirements, you need no certification of any kind that would justify paying somebody full-time wages for a part-time job. All you need is the ability to pay the filing fee and cover your campaign expenses, which makes it fairly well within reach of most people.

This is, of course, nothing to be surprised about.

At the state and federal levels, our elected officials are making bank, and why not? Wouldn’t you give yourself a raise if you could? Last I checked, this so-called robust economy has yet to trickle down to the working men and women.

While the private sector and corporate America are free to do as they wish, this is taxpayer money we are talking about. This is money that comes from fees and fines and taxes; money that, one way or another, comes from our pockets whether it is a business passing on its overhead expenses or the city collecting on traffic tickets.

In the grand scheme of things, this hike, roughly an additional $60,000 burden on the annual city budget, may not seem like much.

Except, that money could go to the police department for equipment or personnel.

It could go to the fire department, which never has enough new gear.

It could go to more road repairs, our parks and green space, special events and services for residents, more books for our libraries, or any number of other expenditures that have a higher priority than fattening the wallets of the council and mayor.

The voters incessantly complain about how their tax money is spent, challenging each nickel that goes out, questioning the need for civic and social programs.

And they are always complaining about the value, or lack thereof, they get from what they pay their elected officials.

But, guess what?

You still keep electing these guys, over and over and over again.

No bad days!

Ed Kociela is an opinion columnist for St. George News. The opinions stated in this article are his own and may not be representative of St. George News.

Email: edkociela.mx@gmail.com

Twitter: @STGnews, @EdKociela