INDIANAPOLIS — Members of the Indianapolis City-County Council may finally receive higher salaries for the first time in more than two decades.
Councilors voted Monday to approve a measure that would increase their wages nearly threefold.
Members' current base salary is set at $11,400 for part-time work. That's 12% of Mayor Joe Hogsett's $95,000 salary. That number was set in 2002 and hasn't increased since.
This proposal would bring salaries to $31,075 starting in 2024, with cost of living increases every year.
Council Republicans unanimously voted against the measure, saying the city should instead focus on improving infrastructure and combatting violent crime.
"Indianapolis residents are bringing home less money every paycheck due to rising inflation and skyrocketing gas prices. It is incredibly bad timing for the supermajority to give themselves such a monumental pay raise funded by hardworking taxpayers," Marion County Republican Party Chairman Joe Elsener said in a statement following the vote.
"While I understand there may be a need to increase council pay at some point, I am disappointed in tonight's vote, and I hope that the council supermajority can refocus its priorities on the taxpayers moving forward," Elsener said.
In 2019, a similar measure was approved by the council but was vetoed by Mayor Joe Hogsett.
Hogsett cited the substance of the proposal and its timing as reasons for not supporting the measure.
The salary for councilors in Indianapolis is far below that of comparable cities, such as Jacksonville, Fla., where councilors work part-time but make more than $52,000.
If Hogsett does not take action against the proposal, it will go into effect in 2024, when the next council takes office.
WRTV has reached out to Hogsett's office for comment.
WRTV Reporter Kayla Molander contributed to this report.
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