Members of the Little Rock Board of Directors during a meeting on Tuesday voted to increase their annual pay by $7,000.
After approving an ordinance to adopt the 2024 budget, city board members approved a separate ordinance that authorized the pay increase in the form of a budget amendment.
The seven ward-specific and three at-large city directors will receive a new annual salary of $25,000. The salary ordinance makes no change to the $3,000 annual stipend they receive to cover expenses, meaning their total compensation will be $28,000 per year.
The salary increase cannot take effect until Jan. 4 for procedural reasons related to the emergency clause, City Attorney Tom Carpenter said.
The vote to increase city board members' pay was 6-4.
City Directors Virgil Miller Jr., Ken Richardson, Capi Peck, Andrea Lewis and Antwan Phillips as well as Vice Mayor Kathy Webb voted yes.
City Directors Lance Hines, Brenda "B.J." Wyrick, Dean Kumpuris and Joan Adcock voted no.
The last time city board members voted to give themselves a raise was 2013. At the time, they increased their annual pay from $12,000 to $18,000 and instituted the stipend.
Over the summer, city board members rejected a proposed ordinance from Phillips that would have increased their annual compensation by $10,000 and allowed them to access municipal insurance programs.
In April, city board members voted to give raises to the mayor, city manager and city attorney after conducting the annual evaluations of the latter two officials.
As a result, Mayor Frank Scott Jr.'s salary increased from $160,000 to $200,000. Then-City Manager Bruce Moore's salary increased from $194,955 to $219,955. Carpenter's salary increased from $153,500 to $186,385.
In spite of the pay increase approved on Tuesday, city board members will continue to be paid less than members of the Arkansas General Assembly.
State lawmakers are paid $44,357 per year except for the Senate president pro tempore and the House speaker, who are paid $50,661.
It was time for a pay increase, Peck told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette following the meeting.
"We are public servants, but I think we should be compensated in a fair way," Peck said, adding that she favored revisiting the issue annually or every other year.
Webb recalled telling Phillips she would not support his proposal because she thought it was "too much at one time," but that she would support a compromise.
She felt that increasing city board members' pay "does allow for more people to be able to run if they so choose," Webb told the Democrat-Gazette.
2024 BUDGET
The 2024 municipal budget ordinance, which was approved in a voice vote on Tuesday with no audible opposition, establishes a general-fund budget with revenue and expenses balanced at $257.5 million.
It represents an increase from the amended budget for the current year, which set general-fund revenue and expenses at $248 million and $244 million, respectively.
When accounting for the general fund as well as five other city funds, revenue and expenses are projected to be roughly $333.4 million and $330.6 million, respectively, resulting in net income of nearly $2.8 million.
The budget includes a 2% across-the-board pay increase for non-uniformed, full-time employees.
According to a budget presentation delivered to the city board last month, the minimum pay for code enforcement officers and supervisors will increase to $41,600 and $49,200, respectively.
Additionally, new employees who join the Department of Emergency Communications will be eligible to receive a $2,500 recruiting incentive.
A 5% increase will be made to the step increases received by police officers under the budget. Officers and members of the command staff with more than 15 years of service will see their step increases adjusted by 9%.
The size of the police recruit class will increase from 35 to 65 at a cost of an additional $304,350 annually.
A $10,000 recruiting bonus for new police officers will remain unchanged next year. The 2022 budget doubled the size of the bonus.
Because of an existing two-year agreement with the firefighters' union, uniformed Fire Department personnel will receive a 1.75% salary increase next year on top of a 6% increase that took effect this year.
The Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, which reopened to the public this spring following an overhaul of its facilities and grounds in MacArthur Park, will receive $4 million from the city in 2024, an increase of $1.8 million compared to the current year.
The city's allocation for the Downtown Little Rock Partnership, a 501(c)(3) group, will increase by $75,000 for a total of $300,000 next year. An additional $208,000 for the Museum of Discovery will bring its total allocation from the city to $400,000 in 2024.