City Council Hears Opposition Over Proposed Raises

At Monday night’s City Council meeting, two residents stood in opposition to prospective pay raises elected officials will likely receive after November’s general election.

Resident Miriam Baughman took the floor first, asking: “How is a City Council salary raise necessary for the preservation for health, safety and peace of North Canton?”

Baughman also questioned whether the timing coincided with the passage of Ohio Senate Bill 343, which states members of PERS (Public Employment Retirement System of Ohio) must start earning at least $600 a month before Jan. 1, 2014 to receive pension credit.

Council president Jon Snyder, Ward 4, dismissed the idea that there was any correlation between the raises and the senate bill, and said the timing dealt more with the fact that the Council and mayor have not received raises since 2002.

Also, the compensation measure needs to be passed before an Aug. 7 filing deadline in order for the elected officials to be eligible to receive the raises in 2014, he said.

Under the compensation measure, the mayor's part-time annual salary would increase 16 percent from $15,000 to $17,400.

The council president would receive a 42 percent raise, which would boost the existing salary from $5,700 to $8,100 a year. 

The six council members’ salaries would increase 50 percent from $4,800 to $7,200 a year.

Former councilman Chuck Osborne took the floor next and said the timing wasn’t right for increased salaries since the city is facing a projected $3.6 million budget shortfall, $1.4 million of which hitting the general fund.

Osborne voted no on raises as a councilman in 2002, as he believed a slightly higher increase was in order than what was proposed then. 

"Since North Canton had reserves of $18.0 million and prospects for the city were good (in 2002, that) is why I felt a slightly higher raise was in order. That is not the case now," Osborne wrote Patch via email. 

The measure is widely supported by Mayor David Held and council members and will likely pass in early July before Council goes on summer leave.