Voters to decide on pay raise for Taylor council members after pushback from petition

TAYLOR, Texas (KXAN) — After nearly a year of discussion, votes and a petition, the Taylor City Council has indicated it will put the matter of raising council member compensation before voters in May.

In August, council members voted 3-2 to increase council member’s compensation to $500 for every meeting they attend and $750 for every meeting the mayor attends.

PREVIOUS REPORTING: Taylor residents try to stop pay increase for city council members

After this development, a petition circulated among Taylor residents, garnering more than 1,300 signatures to try and overturn the raise.

The City of Taylor confirmed in September that it accepted the petition and it would go before the city council for consideration.

The council discussed the petition at its meeting this week and voted to direct staff to put the issue on the ballot in May.

Before that discussion, council member at-large Dwayne Ariola motioned to rescind the compensation ordinance altogether in an effort to stop the increased payments for the council until voters can make a decision. The increased compensation began Oct. 1.

Ariola said much of the public’s displeasure stems from the council not taking recommendations from a citizen committee on council compensation. That raise would have paid council members $250 per month.

“All of this would have been moot if they would have just accepted the compensation committee’s recommendation,” Ariola said.

Terry Burris started the petition that sought to overturn the compensation ordinance. He said Thursday’s meeting was a step toward making that happen.

“A lot could have been done to bring this community together, but they chose not to. Everybody feels that their egos are in the way. So we’ll what happens in May,” Burris said.

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