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Vienna council debates tying council and volunteer stipends to staff pay increases
Summary
Council members discussed whether council and boards-and-commissions stipends should be adjusted on the same schedule as staff raises, with the town manager recommending a biannual, CPI-based approach and the town attorney advising a practice timed to election cycles; no vote was taken.
At a March 17 work session, Vienna council members debated whether to align future increases for the town council and volunteer boards and commissions with staff pay adjustments.
The discussion began after a council member urged small increases for board stipends, describing the change as a gesture of appreciation. Town Clerk Melanie Clark reviewed the council budget and noted no changes to the council pay line.
"As I hear this conversation, it might be best to begin a practice of the council and the boards and commissions receiving going forward the same increase amount as the staff gets," the town manager said, framing the idea as a predictable, depoliticized approach to periodic adjustments. The town attorney recommended treating the change as a biannual occurrence timed to the council election cycle to avoid the appearance of voting directly for immediate personal gain.
Council members raised practical and ethical concerns. Some said linking volunteer stipends to staff pay could bias council decision-making on personnel budgets and preferred a separate, deliberate work session to study the proposal. Others argued modest, periodic adjustments would avoid large catch-up increases after years without change.
No formal motion or vote occurred. Staff said they would draft options for further review, including a CPI-linked schedule and a narrower proposal to raise only boards-and-commissions stipends by a small flat amount. The town manager and attorney said any change would be brought back to council for formal consideration and, if appropriate, legal review.
Next steps: staff will prepare formal options and potential language for council review at an upcoming meeting; the matter remains under discussion and has not been adopted.
