City appointed officers and full-time employees can expect to see more money in their paychecks next year.
On Monday, members of the Crawfordsville Common Council unanimously approved the first reading of a proposed ordinance that sets the salaries of appointed officers and employees for 2025. The proposed pay raise represents a 5% increase.
The council also approved the first reading of an ordinance setting the salaries for the mayor, clerk-treasurer, and council members. However, the council was not unanimous, voting 6-1. Councilman Mike Reidy cast the dissenting vote.
Reidy said he was not opposed to the mayor’s salary of $101,488 or the clerk-treasurer’s salary of $72,994 as outlined in the ordinance but was against raising the salaries of the council members to $7,500 each, up from the previous stipend of $5,000.
Last week, during the council committee meetings, councilman Jeff Lucas explained that he had researched other communities comparable in size and population to Crawfordsville and the ratio of compensation to council members.
“We are at the very bottom of that group of 10,” Lucas said. “I expanded [the research] out to 45, and again and we are at the very bottom. So, this one-time adjustment would move us up to about the lower quarter. We are not even average yet ... We are not fixing this all at once.”
Council president Andy Biddle, who chairs the fiscal affairs committee, agreed with Lucas during last week’s meeting. Biddle said the increase would not only put Crawfordsville more in line with other communities but could help attract people to run for a council seat in the future.
“The days of volunteer public service have waned a little bit,” Biddle said. “And there needs to be an incentive because it [serving on the council] takes a certain amount of time.”
Both Biddle and Lucas also referenced past election cycles in their comments.
“I think the number of contested races says a lot,” Lucas said.
There was only one contested city council race this past election.
Both proposed salary ordinances will require two additional readings before they can be adopted.
In other business, the council:
• Approved by a 7-0 vote the first reading of an ordinance outlining the 2025 budget, which includes $23 million of expenses, a tax levy of $12.8 million and a tax rate of 1.7606. Two additional readings are needed for adoption.
• Approved by a 7-0 vote the first reading of an ordinance making an additional appropriation of $218,341 for the Mobile Integrated Health Department from the 2024 general fund to the rural health outreach fund. The transfer of funds corrects a previous clerical error.
• Approved by a 6-1 vote a resolution outlining steps for Crawfordsville Electric Light & Power to opt out of the jurisdiction of the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission. The move is expected to save the city money and time. As for future rate adjustments, those decisions will continue to be decided by local authorities. Councilwoman Jennifer Lowe cast the dissenting vote.
