Danbury council refers proposed elected-officials salary reset to ad hoc committee

The Danbury City Council voted Dec. 4 to send a proposed resolution to reset pay for elected officers — including the mayor, town clerk and treasurer — to an ad hoc committee for review and recommendation. The proposal, submitted by Councilmen Joe Britton and William McAllister, would set a salary reset effective Dec. 1, 2027, and establish an index tied to the federal cost-of-living adjustment.

Councilwoman Cheryl Wallace Smith moved to refer the communication to an ad hoc that will include corporation counsel, the finance department and the mayor’s office and asked the council to appoint a five-member panel to review fiscal and administrative impacts. "I move to receive the communication and send this to an ad hoc committee consisting of corporation counsel, the finance department, and the mayor's office," Wallace Smith said during the meeting.

The mayor named the ad hoc membership on the record: Councilman Joe Bridal (chair), Councilman Billy McAllister (co-signer on the letter), Councilwoman Cheryl Wallace Smith, Councilman Lou Giordano and Councilman Michael Coelho. The motion to create the ad hoc was seconded and approved by voice vote; the chairman specified the committee will evaluate the proposal's fiscal and administrative impacts and report back to the full council.

The communication argues Danbury’s elected-official pay lags peer municipalities and proposes a transparent, index-based approach to annual adjustments tied to Social Security and SSI COLA measures. The council did not debate or amend the proposed salary levels at the meeting; members approved only the referral to the ad hoc for study.

Next steps: the ad hoc committee will review the proposal’s financial implications and return recommendations to the council; no effective salary-change date or dollar figures were adopted at this meeting.