New Albany Council approves pay raises for elected officials on first, second readings

Dec. 7—NEW ALBANY — The New Albany City Council recently approved raises for elected officials on the first and second readings.

The council voted 6-2 at Monday's meeting to approve the salary increases for the mayor, clerk, council and council president. Council members Josh "JT" Turner and Stefanie Griffith voted against the ordinance, and Scott Blair abstained from the vote.

The salary ordinance also included raises for certain leadership positions in New Albany's police and fire departments and $500 stipends for non-union city employees.

New Albany City Councilman Greg Phipps introduced the salary ordinance at Monday's meeting.

"In my 12 years on the council, I think the council only approved raises for elected officials on two of those 12 years," he said. "We talked about on several occasions how city officials in New Albany are underpaid compared to other comparable second-class cities, including the ones in our own area such as Jeffersonville."

The ordinance will require approval on a third and final reading.

The mayor will receive a nearly 9% increase in 2024. The ordinance includes a biweekly pay of $4,006 for New Albany Mayor Jeff Gahan, or roughly $104,156 a year. According to Indiana Gateway, the mayor earned an annual $95,729 in 2022.

The ordinance raises pay for council members by 44%. In 2024, council members will receive biweekly pay of $576, or an annual $14,976.

In 2022, council members received an annual $10,387.

Pay will increase by 42% for the council president. The president will receive biweekly pay of $605, or an annual $15,730. In 2022, the council president received an annual $11,006.

The city clerk's salary will increase by 41%. New Albany City Clerk Vicki Glotzbach will receive a biweekly $2,692, or $69,992.

In 2022, New Albany City Clerk Vicki Glotzbach received an annual $49,600.

Raises for police and fire leadership were included in the recent ordinance due to an oversight in a salary ordinance passed in September.

New Albany Police Chief Todd Bailey will receive a biweekly $4,409, or an annual $114,634, in 2024. New Albany Fire Chief Matt Juliot will receive a bimonthly $4,393, or an annual $114,218.

In addition to the one-time stipend for non-bargaining city employees, the city council previously approved 2% raises for those employees.

Blair called for the removal of the council increases from the ordinance and increase the stipend for employees from $500 to $1,500.

He feels the council should consider higher pay for employees to keep up with inflation.

"There are a lot of department heads and positions that got more than a 4% increase, but then you have the regular city workers...who got a 2% increase," he said.

Blair's proposed amendment was rejected, but several council members who voted against the change said they were open to considering additional stipend funds after further discussion.

Turner voiced his opposition to the substantial increases for elected officials and particular leadership positions in the police and fire departments while other city employees are receiving much smaller increases.

He also referred to the one-time stipend for non-bargaining employees as a "slap in the face," and he would prefer to focus on higher raises.

"I'm not for one-time money," Turner said. "I think the root cause is they're not paid enough, and we need to figure out what that is because one-time money is gone as quick as they got it."

He feels that the ordinance is "taking care of ourselves before we actually take care of the people who matter, who keep the city running."

Griffith said she did not feel comfortable voting on salary increases for the council.

"I know we're trying to make sure all of our elected officials get a raise," she said. "I'm good with all of our employees getting a raise, I just can't vote for it because I can't give myself a raise."

Phipps said he feels the New Albany City Council should put the raises in place before the new council comes on board in January.

"For many years, we didn't take a raise," he said. "I said this before I was even re-elected — I said, we need to do this for the next council."

Griffith said she wants the council to focus on making sure "all employees are caught up" in terms of pay.

"I would like that to be one of our goals for 2024," she said.

New Albany City Councilman Adam Dickey said the city has been lagging behind in terms of pay for elected officials, and he noted that city council members are "always on call to answer concerns, questions [and] to serve as ambassadors for this city."

"I think at the end of the day, we need to look at all of these issues that we're discussing," he said. "Are we compensating our employees to a sufficient level? Are we making sure that elected officials are compensated accordingly?"

Dickey said the council might consider a "larger study" of employee pay going into next year.

"We need to remember we have already done some things like the 2% increase, like an increase the year before to try and make sure our employees are keeping up," he said.

The raises for elected officials have been a "long time coming," New Albany City Councilman Jason Applegate said, noting that he will not benefit since he will not be serving on the council next year.

"I do think it puts us in a range of where those positions should be close to," he said.

He also feels that the employee stipends "could be increased if the budget allows it."