If approved, it would not apply to current Kettering elected officials, but they would be eligible only if — and after — they are re-elected, according to the city charter.
A measure is expected to go before council on Tuesday and be voted on before June. The move is designed to compensate the city’s elected officials on par with surrounding communities or cities with similar populations, Mayor Don Patterson said.
“We’re not doing this to line our pocket. It’s not going to impact” current council members, said Patterson, who in his last year due to term limits.
“It was a good time to do it,” he added. “It was the right time to do it…We don’t benefit from it. I won’t see a dime from it.”
Beavercreek and Huber Heights city councils both approved pay increases for those jobs in 2019, Dayton Daily News records show.
Beavercreek’s annual compensation went from $6,000 to $10,800 for terms starting on or after Jan. 1, 2020. Huber Heights approved a hike equivalent to $12,000 for the mayor and $8,100 for council members. It had been $7,452 and $3,600 for those jobs, respectively.
Beavercreek’s population is 47,741 and Huber’s 38,154, according to U.S. Census data. Kettering has 54,855 residents.
In 2012, Kettering charter changes approved by voters cut city legislative salaries and limited council’s ability approve pay increases for those jobs, Montgomery County Board of Elections records show.
Before the charter amendment, the Kettering mayor’s annual pay was about $23,000 and council members’ about $15,000.
Council can only increase those salaries in “any odd numbered year no later than June first, provided that no increase in compensation shall be effective during the term of office of the mayor or council members in which such vote is taken,” the charter states.
Only one of Kettering’s current council members is eligible to seek another term, City Manager Mark Schwieterman said.
At-large member Jacque Fisher, whose term expires Dec. 31, has pulled petitions seeking re-election, according to county records.
ANNUAL PAY
The following are cities current annual compensation for mayors and city council members.
CITY MAYOR COUNCIL
•Beavercreek: $10,800 $10,800*
•Centerville: $16,761 $15,511
•Huber Heights: $12,000 $8,100
•Kettering: $12,000 $8,000
•Miamisburg: $14,515 $10,640
SOURCES: cities of Beavercreek, Centerville, Kettering and Miamisburg, and the DDN archives.
*Three members are still paid $6,000 annually. In 2019, the city approved the new rate for terms starting on or after Jan. 1, 2020.
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