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Springdale debates and amends elected‑official pay ordinance, removes insurance benefit
Summary
At a first reading Oct. 1, 2025, Springdale City Council considered Ordinance 42‑20‑25 to set future salaries for the mayor, council president and council members and to tie annual cost‑of‑living adjustments to state trustee percentage increases; the council voted 7‑0 to strike Section 8 (authorization for health insurance benefits) from the ordinance and will return the amended ordinance for a subsequent reading.
Springdale City Council held a first reading and amendment vote Oct. 1 on an ordinance that would set compensation for elected officials beginning Dec. 1, 2027, and automatically apply annual cost‑of‑living adjustments tied to the percentage increases used for township trustees under Ohio law.
Mister Jacobs read Ordinance 42‑20‑25, a finance committee item that would set the mayor's annual salary at $25,000 and members of council at $9,975 (the council president at $10,575), effective Dec. 1, 2027. The ordinance includes a provision to increase those amounts automatically each Jan. 1 by the same percentage applied to township trustees in Ohio Revised Code Section 505.24 so that compensation keeps pace with the threshold OPERS uses to determine full service credit. The ordinance also contained a Section 6 providing a complimentary community‑center membership for elected officials and a Section 8 that would authorize health, vision and dental insurance to be offered to elected officials at up to 35% of the annual premium.
During public comment resident Doyle Webster told council he was "not against this body getting a raise" but opposed indexing pay "to some factor outside the city" because he feared it could reduce local transparency. City staff and the mayor defended the approach as a convenient mechanism to keep salaries above the OPERS minimum for a year of service; staff said that, under current figures, the proposed council salary plus a triggered 5% increase would place council members a few hundred dollars above the OPERS full‑service threshold (staff cited a 2028 OPERS minimum of $10,197.30 and estimated the ordinance would yield approximately $10,473 after the 5% trigger).
Several councilmembers expressed concern about non‑salary benefits. Mister Jacobs said he "didn't feel comfortable getting a free community center membership just because I happen to win an election" and objected to Section 8's insurance authorization. After discussion he moved to strike Section 8; the motion was seconded, polled and approved by seven affirmative votes. The presiding officer announced that Section 8 had been stricken and the ordinance will be referred back as amended (section numbers to be updated before the next reading). Council discussed whether to bring the ordinance back with an emergency clause and the president suggested the committee could refine the language before the next council consideration.
What happens next: Finance committee and administration will incorporate council feedback (notably removal of Section 8) and return a clean, amended ordinance for the next meeting; the ordinance remains scheduled to take effect Dec. 1, 2027, if adopted in its final form.
