The Little Rock Board of Directors raised the salaries of City Manager Bruce Moore and City Attorney Tom Carpenter on Tuesday by 2.5 percent each.
The last time the two had a raise was in 2014. Moore's $181,896 salary will increase to $186,443.40, while Carpenter's $143,217.52 salary will rise to 146,797.96. Both are retroactive to Jan. 1.
Top LR city employee salaries
- Ron Mathieu, executive director of Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field — $209,633.84
- Thad Luther, chief operating officer at Central Arkansas Water — $192,171.20
- Greg Ramon, chief executive officer at Little Rock Wastewater — $187,636.80
- Bruce Moore, Little Rock city manager — $186,443.40
- Tad Bohannon, chief executive officer at Central Arkansas Water — $185,000
- Bryan Malinowski, deputy executive director of Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/ Adams Field — $175,258.46
- Unfi lled position, chief legal counsel of Central Arkansas Water — $172,036.80
- Mark Stodola, Little Rock Mayor — $160,000
- Howell Anderson, chief operating officer of Little Rock Wastewater — $157,622.40
- Thomas Clarke, director of properties, planning and development at Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field — $148,335.20
-Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
The increases are in line with the 2.5 percent raises the board approved for all city employees this year.
The board's 9-0 public vote -- with City Director Ken Richardson absent -- came after a two-hour executive session where city directors conducted the annual evaluations of the two officials separately in closed meetings.
Moore has been the fifth-highest paid official in the city for some years. This raise moves him up to the No. 4 spot -- because Central Arkansas Water's chief executive, who was making more than $198,000, recently left his job and was replaced with a new chief executive officer making $185,000.
Moore's salary now ranks behind the executive officers of the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field and Little Rock Wastewater and behind the chief operating officer at Central Arkansas Water.
Carpenter's pay increase moves him from the 15th-highest paid Little Rock city employee to No. 12. The board also voted Tuesday to increase Carpenter's paid time off from 200 hours to 256 hours -- which brings him in line with the city's policy for what someone of his tenure should receive, he said.
The city's salary ranking, published on the Right2Know section of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's website arkansasonline.com, includes the city, airport, water and wastewater utilities, district court, emergency service, library system and the Convention and Visitors Bureau. The online list reflects city salaries as of Jan. 1.
City Director Brad Cazort recently suggested appointing a citizen's committee that would compare the pay of Moore, the mayor and city board members with employees of other cities and governments of similar size.
City directors increased their own pay by $6,000, from $12,000 to $18,000, in 2013. The city Finance Department said at the time that the pay raise accounted for inflation from the time the $12,000 salary was set in place in 1994. Before 1994, board members were not paid.
Also in 2013, Cazort sponsored an ordinance to increase the mayor's pay by almost $19,000, but the issue became too divisive and was never voted on at the request of Mayor Mark Stodola, who has made $160,000 since voters approved having full-time mayor in 2007.
Metro on 02/10/2016