11/14/17 – 5:13 A.M.

An ad hoc committee of Findlay City Council recommends pay raises for council members and the city treasurer. The Courier reports the committee says the treasurer should get a $2,000 raise, while council members should get $1,000 raises.The treasurer last got a pay raise in 2002. The last time council got a pay raise was 2008.

The city pays council members a little more than $6,000 per year. The treasurer makes more than $6,800 per year. The proposed raise for treasurer Susan Hite includes the same 2 percent pay raise that other non-union city employees will receive in 2018 and again in 2019. The plan also calls for the treasurer to get the same raise as non-union employees in 2020 and 2021. The city hasn’t set those raises yet.

City council members would also get 2 percent pay bumps in 2018 and 2019.

Findlay HR director Don Essex says Findlay pays the treasurer and city council members less than their counterparts in comparable cities. Some of the cities used to establish a comparison were Newark, Lancaster, Ashland, and Bowling Green. Essex’s findings show Findlay pays its treasurer half of what people in similar positions get paid in comparable cities. City council members make around $1,200 less than council members in similar cities.

Committee member Tom Klein said, “We hear a lot of people say that they want government to run like a business. Well, successful businesses pay a good wage to good employees and make sure to give good people a raise more than once in 10 years to keep them.”

Council can consider raises before the start of new terms. Ohio law prevents the council from approving pay raises while in their current term. Council plans to talk about the matter at their next meeting.

MORE: The Courier