Over time I’m learning some issues go unresolved and keep appearing on the agenda over the span of years. Such is the case with City Council salary. As such, this post will be the first of several topics that gather the details (and thus be updated over time) to help organize it and allow me to easily refer back to it rather than try and recap 2 years of details into a couple of paragraphs. In the case of this discussion, I’m using round numbers and general dates. We aren’t talking millions of dollars here.

Current Status

Council member’s current salary is ~$55,000. 2 years ago, a review by the Admin recommended adjusting that salary to ~$72,000. That passed in the budget however Council has been unable to approve the necessary resolution to make it effective. The proposed budget for fiscal year (FY) 2025 will again have a similar salary adjustment for Council members, ~$74,000. Council will be required to pass a Resolution upon adoption of the FY25 budget for the adjustment to take effect. There’s a tentative agreement among Council.

Background

The issue of Council salary was first raised by a motion from former Council member Dingfelder asking staff to evaluate Council’s salary. Currently Council salary is $55,000. It’s low for a multitude of reasons. Tampa as a city today isn’t the Tampa of 1986. The size of budget, the amount of development, its night and day. So are the responsibilities of a Council member. The Area Median Income for Hillsborough County according to Fannie Mae is $92,000. I’ve heard for Tampa it’s $74,000. What ever it is, a City Council member makes significantly less. So either you live in poverty (literally) as a Council member or you are in a financial situation where the salary doesn’t matter. That limits who can run. Who represents us.

That’s what this discussion has primarily been about. Resetting the salary so it makes running for City Council a reality for people who are passionate about their community. Accessibility. The sticking point has been an argument that some Council members “don’t want to vote themselves a raise.” “You knew what you signed up for.”

So Dingfelder made a motion and the Admin evaluated what Council members in other municipalities in Florida made and tried to find a median salary to propose. That is what was presented and approved in the FY23 budget.

However approving it in the budget is only the first step. It also requires a separate Resolution and mayor sign off. That’s when the debate started. The 27th Amendment. Which yes, members of Congress can’t raise their salary during their current term. Which is only 2 years. And they get a ridiculous budget for staffing, travel and offices. City Council members have one legislative aide, a small stipend and an office in Old City Hall. And four year terms.

Because this became contentious Council overlooked the obvious solution which would have been to approve the salary adjustment effective the next Council term. However it was an election year and the same people that didn’t want to approve the adjustment in the current term, they also didn’t want to run on having just given themselves a raise? I never understood that logic. Regardless, Council punted on the issue.

It came back up at request of Council member Henderson. She has admitted she was naive to the extent of the responsibilities of the job. She’s said she did think it was part time. But she’s also emphasized this is about the next person sitting in her chair as much as it is about next year. So over the course of FY24 this topic has been on the agenda and at times, hotly debated. Which has led to frustration and no consensus. As Council wrapped up their last workshop, a tentative agreement was reached. A non-binding vote was taken, passing 4-3, with Henderson, Maniscalco, Hurtak and Clendenin voting to agree to implement the adjustment proposed by the mayor in FY25. The caveat is the motion/discussion was to also find some city union job to index the salary against that would go into effect with next Council May, 2027. The devil is always in the details and until that resolution is approved and signed off by the Mayor, Tampa City Council members living strictly on their salary qualify for affordable housing.