The Bloomington City Council approved a pay increase for city council members Wednesday but scaled back the increase proposed during the council’s previous meeting Dec. 4.
Council members approved the salaries in an 8-1 vote, with Isak Nti Asare voting no. Council members will each receive $25,000 – an increase from the $21,153 they currently receive.
The mayor and city clerk will also receive pay increases, with the mayor’s salary increasing from $138,031 to $142,171 and the clerk’s increasing from $87,000 to $90,000.
The raises come after a significant increase proposed by Councilmember Sydney Zulich was scaled back. In the original proposal, council members would have been set to receive $45,423 annually, which would have made Bloomington’s city council members the highest paid in Indiana, eclipsing Indianapolis and Evansville by over $10,000.
Councilmember Dave Rollo used Carmel and Fishers as comparison points for Bloomington;, councilmembers in Carmel and Fishers are paid $24,396 and $24,287, respectively, much closer to the $25,000 Bloomington City Council members will receive in 2025.
The proposal received pushback from locals, as well as a commitment to veto from Mayor Kerry Thomson. Council President Isabel Piedmont-Smith said Thomson vowed to veto any increases beyond a three percent cost of living adjustment.
Asare was vocal in his opposition to any pay increases during the Wednesday meeting, questioning if the increases would improve the service and work done by the council. Other council members argued that higher pay allows a more diverse background of individuals to run for office and be able to spend more time on city business. Asare disagreed.
“Are you all saying, those who are proposing this position, that you will stop doing other things, if we raise salaries? And if so, what is it that you plan to stop doing so that you have more time to be on council,” Asare said.
Piedmont-Smith said the question wasn’t relevant, as it is dependent on individual’s choices.
The Bloomington City Council will reconvene next for an organizational meeting Jan. 8.
