Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Governance Board Compensation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Macedonia council approves $50-per-meeting stipend for boards and commissions; law director recommends prospective application
Summary
Council adopted an ordinance to pay board and commission members $50 per meeting (capped at $100 per month). Law department advised the change should apply prospectively; council passed the measure and directed legal staff to seek an ethics opinion before any retroactive pay.
The City Council of Macedonia on Feb. 27 adopted an ordinance amending the city codified ordinances to pay certain boards and commission members a stipend of $50 per meeting, capped at $100 a month.
Council members said the stipend is intended to offset incidental costs such as fuel or refreshments and to make service on boards more accessible. One councilmember described it as a modest token of appreciation and noted neighboring communities pay stipends for similar roles.
During discussion, Director Gudetti advised a conservative legal approach: make the stipend prospective so it would not apply to current terms until the law department and, if necessary, the ethics commission review the issue. “The conservative view would be to make it prospective in nature,” Director Gudetti said; he added that an ethics-commission opinion could allow retroactive application later if it supports that step.
Council members debated whether to make payments retroactive and discussed implementation details, including monthly payments and a proposed cap of $100 per month. The council voted to adopt the ordinance and to proceed with implementing the stipend on a prospective basis pending any further legal guidance; council did not set a retroactive payment schedule in the meeting record.
The ordinance passed by voice vote. Specific administrative procedures for enrollment, monthly payment processing, and timing were left to the law department and administration to draft.
