Roanoke City Council approves pay raises for mayor, council members

The Roanoke City Council on Monday voted to nearly double the salaries for the next mayor and council.

The General Assembly in April granted cities the size of Roanoke the ability to increase annual salaries for mayors and city council members to $47,000 for the mayor, and $43,000 for council members.

Mayor Sherman Lea currently makes $25,000 yearly, and council members earn $23,000.

After discussion, the council, in a split vote, decided to raise the salaries, but to step them in over time.

Starting July 1, 2025, the mayor will be paid $35,000, and council members $33,000. In 2026, both salaries will increase by $5,000, and by 2027, both will hit the maximum salary allowed.

Three of seven council members will not benefit from the salary increase as their terms are ending before the start of the next fiscal year.

The council was required to vote twice on the salary bump. T he first vote took place during a special meeting on Friday , and the second vote occurred Monday morning without a public hearing.

By law, the council had to vote on a salary increase at least four months prior to the next election — which occurs this year held on Nov. 5 — explaining the call for a special meeting and quick turnaround on the vote.

If the council hadn’t passed the ordinance by Wednesday, the earliest that any salary increases could take effect would be 2027.

There was some dissension among council members as to whether a public hearing should have been held. The council voted 4-2 for the ordinance with the proposed amendment. Lea, Trish White-Boyd, Pete Volosin and Vivian Sanchez-Jones voted for the increase, while Stephanie Moon Reynolds and newly appointed council member Beverly Fitzpatrick opposed it.

Technically, it is legal for cities to approve such ordinances without a public hearing, city attorney Tim Spencer said. The law itself only says that counties cannot pass ordinances without prior notice and a public hearing, and makes no mention of cities — a technicality that Spencer said he presumed to be a mistake, and likely had the intent to include cities.

“I’m old-fashioned and my concern is … it doesn’t pass the smell test,” said Fitzpatrick, who was sworn in Monday to fill the seat of Luke Priddy, who recently stepped down. “I have no ill feelings toward fellow members of council, but I’m uncomfortable voting for it the way it is.”

Volosin said it’s a matter of “catching up to inflation.”

“There’s also folks who can’t afford to run for city council. It might be that they can’t fundraise or they can’t take on the role of city council while having other jobs,” Volosin said.

He also argued that the council has spent significant money in the past couple of years increasing the salaries of city employees.

Spencer said the last time the General Assembly set a new salary schedule for city councils was 1996. The council took action, within the existing code, to raise salaries in 2013 and again in 2019 — both times, without holding a public hearing.

In recent weeks, a number of other cities have passed similar salary increases and held public hearings prior to voting, including Hampton, Portsmouth and Alexandria. The Richmond City Council did not hold a public hearing before taking a vote.

Megan Rhyne, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, said Roanoke’s decision to move forward without a public hearing makes the decision seem “sneaky,” considering that it “directly affects the pocketbooks of the citizens.”

“Nobody is saying you don’t deserve or need a raise,” Rhyne said. “I’m just saying it impacts the budget, which impacts the public.”

Lea during the meeting said that the council is acting within the code, and that it is trying to “catch up.”

“We’re trying to do this upfront and share with the public,” he said. “We work so hard to make sure we’re open.”

The post Roanoke City Council approves pay raises for mayor, council members appeared first on Cardinal News .