News

By Sallie James

    City Council member Mike Mullaugh thinks it’s time Boca Raton’s elected officials get a raise since they haven’t had one in more than three decades.
    He has proposed a more than 300 percent pay hike for both the mayor and council members by tying it to the salaries of state legislators. Any change affecting the salaries of Boca’s elected officials, however, must be done by a voter-approved charter amendment.
    At his urging, the City Council introduced such an ordinance on Nov. 24. The proposed charter amendment provides that the annual salary of the mayor would be equal to the salary of the Florida Senate President/Speaker of the House, and the annual salaries of council members would equal those of state legislators. If state officials’ salaries increased, Boca officials’ salaries would also increase.
    The current salary for the Senate President/House Speaker is $41,181; the current salary for Senate/House members is $29,697.
In contrast, Boca’s mayor is paid $750 a month, or $9,000 a year. City council members earn $600 a month, or $7,200 a year. The numbers haven’t changed since 1984.
    “It’s not a real salary,” Mullaugh said of Boca’s current pay rates. “We ought to make it possible for someone to at least get part of their living from it.”
    Under the proposed charter amendment, a special election would be held on Nov. 8, 2016, the same date as the national election, for consideration of the proposed charter amendment. If voters approved the amendment, it would take effect on April 1, 2017.
Mullaugh’s last day in office will be March 31, 2017, due to term limits, so he would not be affected by any future salary adjustments.
    A salary hike would make the job more realistic for someone who needs to augment his current income, because the job takes anywhere from 20 to 30 hours a week, Mullaugh reasoned.
    “It takes a long time,” Mullaugh said, referring to all the preparation he has to make for every City Council meeting.
    Council member Jeremy Rodgers agreed Boca’s salaries are low, but said he hadn’t reviewed the proposed charter change in depth.
    “If you compare us to other cities like Deerfield Beach or Coral Springs or West Palm Beach, we are probably a quarter of what they earn, on the average,” Rodgers said. He said the quality of applicants might be higher if a more substantial salary is offered.
Like Mullaugh, he agreed the job of City Council member is extremely time-consuming.
    “There is so much time that goes into it. There are the meetings, the preceding day before is the workshop and the council also serves as the CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) Board,” Rodgers said. “You are also meeting with citizens, reading emails, meeting with developers to make sure their projects are something that fits in the city. There is something going on almost every weekend at Mizner.”