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Committee to draft two ordinances on elected officials’ pay and benefits; public timeline set
Summary
A Galion City Council committee discussed salary and benefit changes for elected officials and agreed to draft two ordinances — one for benefits/insurance and one for wages — to be reviewed at the next committee meeting and then sent to full council.
A Galion City Council committee agreed to draft two ordinances to address wages and benefits for elected officials and scheduled review at the next committee meeting.
Committee members discussed a benefits ordinance that would extend medical insurance (with a 15% employee share), dental, vision and life insurance to three elected positions identified in the discussion: the mayor, auditor and law director. Committee members said the plan would treat elected officials like other city employees for insurance contributions and asked staff to include rules for the health savings account (HSA) stipend and how an official who declines insurance would be treated.
“...if the elected official chooses not to take the insurance, they do not get the incentive pay,” a committee member said during the discussion, summarizing a proposed condition staff was asked to draft into ordinance language.
On wages, members reviewed a chart prepared by staff that compared 2013 base salaries compounded by past employee contract raises against current pay levels. Committee members discussed potential dollar figures during the meeting: one member suggested council pay around $6,600 per year and the president of council about $7,947; other speakers described possible ranges for the mayor and law director but directed staff to draft a single wages ordinance listing proposed amounts for each position.
Authorities and contract language discussed in committee included references to existing ordinances that currently govern elected-official pay and benefits (identified in materials as ordinance 20-13-54 and ordinance 20-13-53). Committee members asked staff to prepare two draft ordinances — one limited to benefits language and one for wage changes — for review at the committee’s next meeting, with a plan to submit them to the full council after committee approval.
Timeline and process: staff and committee members agreed on a deliberate timetable. The committee asked staff to draft the ordinances for review at the next committee meeting and then send them to the next regular council meeting. Committee members emphasized transparency and warned against acting after the filing deadline for potential candidates; they said the intent is to have changes in place and publicly known before candidate filing deadlines. A committee speaker also said the committee prefers to avoid using emergency clauses and to follow the standard ordinances process so changes take effect for the next term rather than immediately.
Next steps: staff will draft two ordinances (benefits and wages) and circulate them to committee members before the next meeting. Committee members set a timeline to review the drafts at the next committee meeting and then forward them to the full council for consideration.
