A pay raise could be in store for future members of the Lake Charles City Council, thanks in part to a suggestion made to the city earlier this week by council President Rodney Geyen.
Council members now earn $1,200 per year, which is less than is paid by similar entities in Lafayette and Alexandria.
During Tuesday’s agenda meeting, Geyen asked officials to look into the possibility of a raise, which would take effect until 2017, when the next council is seated.
City attorney Billy Loftin said any ordinance increasing members’ salary would have to be effective only after the next regular mayoral election and must be passed prior to the six months before the election.
“We’ve addressed all of the concerns and wants of all of our employees,” Geyen said. “I was thinking about the next administration for whoever comes back.”
In 2014, the council began taking steps to raise the pay of city workers.
The efforts were spurred by the results of a salary survey that showed local career employees, firefighters and police officers were underpaid compared with counterparts in similarly sized cities.
By the end of 2014, all city employees had received an increase in pay. In 2015, voters approved a quarter-cent sales tax, which will partly fund an additional pay raise for city employees.
City Finance Director Karen Harrell said the city would conduct a similar salary survey to determine an appropriate raise for the council.
Harrell said the survey would take one to two months to complete.
“We’ll go with whatever recommendation they see fit,” Geyen said.
Nearby areas in comparable size with entities similar to that of the City Council can be found in Alexandria and the Terrebonne Parish Council and the Lafayette City-Parish Council — both consolidated governments.
According to the Alexandria code, council members are paid $300 per month.
In Lafayette, council members are paid more than $18,000 per year.
The council members in Terrebonne Parish are paid over $12,000 per year.
The item is designated for introduction onto the council agenda on Aug. 17 and with potential final action on Sept. 7.
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