Hopkinsville council scales back 57% pay‑raise plan, approves 3% one‑time increase and advances amended salary ordinance

Hopkinsville City Council on Feb. 17 backed away from a proposed 57.14% pay increase for elected members, approving instead a 3% one‑time raise and advancing an amended compensation ordinance to a second reading in March.

The decision followed more than two hours of public comment in which multiple residents told the council the size and timing of the raise were inappropriate amid slowing revenues and recent local business closures. Mark Graham, a Hopkinsville resident, said council departments had been asked to identify 2–5% budget cuts and that approving the larger increase now would appear “disconnected from the community’s reality.” Rose Jackson, another resident, called a 54–57% jump “not fair” to constituents who rarely receive similar single‑step increases.

The council debated several amendment options on the ordinance amending chapter 30 (classification and compensation for elected officials). A proposal to phase the increase over three years failed on a roll‑call vote. A motion to adopt a 3% one‑time increase carried on roll call (majority recorded as yes), and the ordinance language was read as amended; the first reading passed on the floor with council salaries listed at $15,628.88 per annum for calendar year 2027. The mayor characterized the outcome as a “very good compromise” and said the second reading will be held in March.

Supporters of a lower increase argued the optics of a large single‑step raise were poor while revenues were soft. Opponents of the original proposal cited a payroll‑tax shortfall and recent closures among local businesses as context for their concerns. Public commenters also urged better public engagement, with several residents saying they had not encountered council members in their wards before the debate.

Council members debated multiple procedural options on the floor before votes: some members urged a phased approach to reduce political blowback; others pushed for a modest, immediate increase coupled with annual CPI‑based adjustments that are written into the ordinance. The amended ordinance includes language that ties future council CPI adjustments to the Department of Local Government recommendation.

The vote to adopt the 3% amendment (and then to read the ordinance as amended) was recorded by roll call in the minutes; the transcript shows the motion to amend passed while the prior three‑year phase amendment failed. The clerk read the ordinance’s amended compensation schedule aloud and set the second reading for March.

What happens next: the amended ordinance will return for a second reading in March; if passed at that time the salary changes will take effect Jan. 1, 2027. Residents who addressed the council were invited to continue engagement at upcoming meetings.