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Charter Review panel backs term‑limit cap, $50 pay bump; council to consider amendments for May 2026 ballot
Summary
Town staff presented three charter amendment recommendations — a cap on total service (removing 'successive'), a $50 per‑meeting pay increase (mayor $150, council $100) and cleanup language — and said the measures would be placed on the May 2, 2026 ballot if council directs. No formal vote was taken.
A staff presenter for the Charter Review Committee told the Little Elm Town Council workshop that the committee is recommending three changes to the town charter for the May 2, 2026 ballot.
The committee proposes to remove the word “successive” from the charter’s term‑limit language and to cap service at three terms for council members and three terms for mayor, meaning a practical limit of about 18 years in elected office if someone served full terms in both roles. The presentation said an unexpired term of less than 24 months would not count toward that cap. “This one would take out the word ‘successive,’” the staff presenter said, describing how the change would stop repeated restarts that previously allowed officials to sit out a term and return.
The same committee recommended a $50 increase to per‑meeting pay for elected officials, raising mayoral pay to $150 per meeting and council members to $100 per meeting; staff explained the group preferred keeping compensation tied to posted meetings rather than switching to a monthly stipend because attendance and compensation are tied to charter meeting definitions. Staff also proposed removing obsolete staggered‑term language that took effect after the 2023 charter amendments.
Council members asked several clarifying questions about how prior service and at‑large versus district seats would count under the cap and whether the changes should include an explicit effective date. Staff said the final amendment language will be prepared for council action on Feb. 3, 2026, when the town orders the election, and that the items would be placed on the May 2, 2026 ballot for voters to decide. “We’re not taking any formal action on this tonight,” the staff presenter said, adding the committee asked staff to do any additional research council requests.
No formal motion or vote on the charter amendments occurred during the workshop; staff requested direction on whether council wanted the items placed on the ballot or whether further study was needed. The council gave no substantive objections and signaled support for moving language forward to the ordinance stage.
What happens next: staff will draft final amendment language for council approval on Feb. 3, 2026, then the charter amendments would appear on the May 2, 2026 ballot if the council directs the election to be ordered.
