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Council member demands itemized salary chart after questioning recent raises; mayor says he did not raise his own pay
Summary
At a budget workshop, a council member challenged a series of recent pay-range changes and raises — citing Gonzales city code 2-175(c) — and urged the mayor to provide a department-by-department salary chart before the next meeting; the mayor and the police chief defended the practice as merit and separately approved actions.
A council member sharply questioned multiple recent pay-range adjustments and raises during the Gonzales City Council budget workshop, saying the changes may not have followed the city—ode and urging the mayor to provide an itemized salary chart before the next meeting.
"This is how cities go bankrupt," the council member said, citing what she characterized as several large, rapid increases across accounting, utilities and recreation positions and asking why some hires had been placed several pay ranges above the posted starting range. She said accounting payroll totals appear to be $375,000 and flagged individual raises of roughly $8,500–$9,900 for accounting staff that took effect after the prior budget passed.
The speaker pointed to Gonzales city code section 2-175(c), which the council member read aloud: "current pay above maximum. No employee shall receive a higher rate of pay than the maximum allowed for the employee's class range except when approved by city council." She asked for a fresh, consolidated salary chart "for each department before our next meeting so we can look at it." Mr. Jacob, the administration presenter, said he had provided supporting documents to administration and agreed to supply an updated version for the council to review.
The council member also questioned multiple apparent changes to the mayor nd other senior employees' pay after the budget passed, citing a series of step changes in September. "You don't go up steps Councilwoman, that would be asinine," one exchange read; the mayor responded directly, "I did not raise my own pay," denying he had unilaterally increased his salary.
Police officials and staff described raises historically being handled outside the budget through separate personnel actions. The police chief said, "we did get merit raises," and explained that some merit adjustments were processed apart from the budget vote and made effective later. Council members asked staff to explain which raises were approved by council votes and which were implemented administratively.
Why it matters: council members framed the issue as both a budgeting transparency problem and a legal/process question under the city code. The request for an itemized chart aims to establish which positions and pay actions were formally approved and which were not, and to give the council a chance to reconcile ranges and documented job classifications before finalizing the fiscal year budget.
Immediate next steps: a council member moved that the mayor provide an itemized departmental salary chart before the next meeting; Jacob said updated documents would be provided. The council recessed and scheduled another meeting to continue budget work.
