Lady Lake Commissioners are seeking a pay raise for the upcoming fiscal year.
At the urging of its newest member, Ed Freeman, the commission agreed to a $35 per month raise to each commissioner’s monthly stipend, which is a 5 percent increase over the current $700 per month. The move came at a budget workshop meeting last week at Lady Lake Town Hall.
Freeman was elected to his Ward 3 seat last November, after the commission approved its first raise in at least 13 years. He said $700 a month isn’t enough to cover the time he puts into the job.
“I realize this is a labor of love for us. However, at $15 an hour, we’d be working 46 hours a month,” Freeman said. “I know I’m doing a whole lot more than 46 hours a month of work. I know all of us are.”
Freeman brought up the issue after seeing the proposed budget includes raises of up to 5 percent for employees in all departments – except for the Town Commission. Finance Director Pam Winegardner then gave a lengthy explanation about how the town is using the raises to balance out salary “compression,” which is a disparity that builds over time when salaries are out of line with employees’ respective knowledge, skills, experience, or abilities.
Freeman said that didn’t answer his question about why there wasn’t an increase for commissioners. Commissioner Ruth Kussard couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“Are we putting ourselves on the same level of our employee who works 40 hours a week and gets up to a 5 percent increase?” she asked Freeman.
“We’re the ones deciding whether they get a raise or not,” Freeman replied.
“And they well deserve a raise,” Kussard said. Freeman agreed: “It’s not about whether they deserve a raise. It’s whether we do, too,” he said.
“When I got on this board, I was told the monthly stipend we get is for our expenses,” said Commissioner Tony Holden. “Otherwise, it’s voluntary work.”
Kussard, who warned multiple times in the meeting against what she considers unnecessary spending, pointed out that a lot of people devote hours without pay to various committees and organizations.
“I understand, but they do it for their church, or they do it for the Legion or the VFW or some organization because there is a charity involved,” Freeman said. “This is not a charitable organization.”
Kussard said she has researched what elected officials are paid in other are municipalities and Lady Lake is near the top. She said only Leesburg and Fruitland Park are higher.
Freeman asked, “What’s the problem with us being the highest?”
Kussard was elected in 2008 and is in her 14th year on the Commission. She said the stipend was the same for 13 years before last year’s increase.
“Well, you’re nuts,” Freeman said.
Kussard responded, “What can I say? I’m not here for the salary, I’m here for the people.”
“I’m here for the people, too. I’m not here for the salary,” Freeman said. “But I think it’s embarrassing if people who spend the amount of time on the job that we do aren’t compensated properly. Thirty-five bucks a month isn’t going to break the bank.”
The other three commissioners let Freeman and Kussard do most of the talking on the issue before they were asked to reach a consensus. Commissioner Paul Hannon said he’s satisfied with the current amount but a 5 percent increase sounds reasonable. Holden noted how much it costs to mount a campaign just to be elected before giving his support. Mayor Jim Rietz also agreed to go along with the plan, leaving Kussard as the lone holdout.