Simmesport resets salaries of mayor, council members

Simmesport aldermen have introduced an ordinance that increases their monthly base pay rate, but supporters contend it "is not a raise."

Under the ordinance introduced at the April 13 council meeting, the five aldermen would each be paid $450 a month. They are currently paid $300 a month and $150 more if there is a special meeting in the month. The mayor's monthly pay would increase to $2,250. He currently receives $1,500 a month plus another $750 if there is a special meeting.

There has been a special meeting every month for at least the past 32 months, as evidenced on the town's website that goes back to August 2017.

Under the proposed ordinance, the extra pay for a special meeting would be dropped from the elected officials'compensation.

There will be a public hearing on the proposed ordinance prior to the Town Council meeting on May 18. The regular monthly meeting was rescheduled from May 11 to May 18 to ensure the ordinance has a full 30 days of public notice before it comes up for a final vote. Had the council not moved the meeting date, it would have only been 28 days since it was introduced.

Mayor Leslie Draper III told council members they must adopt an ordinance setting the pay for the aldermen, mayor and town clerk. Although all of those positions have been being paid every month for many years, Draper said an exhaustive search of town records could not find the ordinance when those pay rates were put in place.

He noted that many town records were missing when he took office in January 2017.

Alderman Kenneth Marsh said he remembers when the current pay for aldermen was approved because he voted against the raise. Council members were being paid $250 a month and he was against raising it to $300. Marsh said he is in favor of keeping the pay as it is --$300 a month and $150 for a special meeting.

The mayor's salary was increased when Draper took office in 2017. The previous mayor, Eric Rusk, reported to the Ethics Board that he received between $9,849 and$12,750 a year in the six years from 2011 to 2016. He was paid $10,875 in 2016.

In his financial disclosure report to the Ethics Board, Draper reported earning $28,874 as mayor in 2017 and $27,000 in 2018. The report for 2019 is not available.

Draper said the proposed change in monthly compensation is not a raise for the mayor and aldermen, but is merely "being consistent" and complying with state law that says the salaries must be set by ordinance. He said everyone will continue receiving the same amount each month that they have always received.

The reason the total monthly pay would remain the same is because of the half-pay received for a monthly special meeting.

Since the council meets twice a month, instead of the rate being $300 + $150 it would become a flat $450. The same would hold true for determining the mayor's monthly salary.

There have been citizen complaints that the special meetings are unnecessary and create an additional financial burden on the town. It has been noted that larger municipalities such as Marksville and Bunkie see no need to have a special meeting between every regular monthly meeting. Cottonport,which is about the same size as Simmesport, also has very few special meetings during the year. In short, special meetings are "special" and not a regular monthly occurrence.

Under the current compensation for the elected officials, the additional meeting costs the town $1,500 a month, which is $18,000 a year. A full-time employee earning $8 an hour would earn less than $17,000 a year.

After discussing the proposed ordinance, it was introduced on a 3-2 vote with Ted Turner joining Marsh in opposing the move and councilmen Myron Brown, Sherman Bell and Presley Bordelon voting in favor.