Van Wert City Council discusses raises

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

Monday’s Van Wert City Council executive session to discuss possible council raises was termed a productive one by Councilwoman At-Large Jana Ringwald.

Ringwald chairs council’s Finance Committee and during a meeting in January, she suggested council members meet in executive session to discuss the matter. Such a closed door discussion is permissible under Ohio’s Sunshine Laws.

“My thought on the executive session is I thought the members of council might be a little more forthcoming if they had the privacy of an executive session,” she explained at the time.

According to Ringwald, Monday’s executive session lasted approximately an hour and she presented information she researched before the discussion, including a historical perspective of prior council salary actions and discussions since 2020, along with salary data since 2006, which represents 10 two-year terms. She also noted Van Wert City Council’s salary has remained at the same level, $4,900, since 2016.

Other information presented by Ringwald included state codes and actions regarding salaries of elected officials.

“Current elected officials in Ohio are within a 10-year plan of gradual salary increases of 1.75 percent per year,” she explained. “In Ohio, city council salaries are not set by the state, but rather each city’s legislative body. Any salary actions do not apply to the current term’s council salaries,  but rather the upcoming elected council.”

Ringwald also presented data of 12 “like communities” in the area and throughout Ohio having a similar population to the city of Van Wert. The data included for each city, including Van Wert, the population, council pay, average household income, general fund budget and relationship between the information for each community and averages for the sample group. 

According to Ringwald, key comparisons included:  

• Van Wert’s Council annual salary of $4,900 for its Council members is 3rd lowest in this sample group of “like communities”.   
• Van Wert City Council’s salary level is nine percent of the community’s average household income; this is lower than the sample group’s average of 11 percent.  
• Van Wert’s salary level is similar to the sample group’s average percentage of its general fund budget.   

“The information provided insight to the council and a productive discussion was held,” Ringwald stated. “Council was asked to consider the information and if a salary change is still desired, reminded that council should make a motion to prepare a salary change ordinance by a mid-June city council meeting in order to complete the legislative process by the election filing deadline in August.”

More discussion is expected at upcoming meetings.

The discussion of potential council raises is starting early because in 2023, it began late and came to a sudden end with no increases. That year, the discussion begin during in early summer and stretched into the early part of October. In between, by a 4-3 vote, council approved increasing annual salaries from $4,900 to $6,100 for ward and at-large members and from $5,500 to $6,700 for the council president.

However, Mayor Ken Markward vetoed the increase, which later led to a revised proposal of $600 raises, which would have taken salaries to $5,500 for ward and at-large representatives and $6,000 for the council president.

By then, a third and final vote on the salary increases would have come after the November election, which Law Director John Hatcher said could have presented a problem with the Ohio Ethics Commission, which led to council dropping the matter altogether.