History of mayor's salary

Pea Ridge Ordinance 513 requires the City Council to set the mayor's salary for the coming term during the June or July meeting prior to the filing period for the new term, according to City Clerk Sandy Button, who presided over a portion of the June 19 City Council meeting.

The City Council sets the salary and council members have debated setting a base salary for the past few elections saying that an inexperienced person should not earn the same as an experienced person.

Mayor Jackie Crabtree, who has been in office for 24 years, earns an annual salary of $50,000, according to Button. That salary was set during the Dec. 29, 2014, City Council meeting after Crabtree won re-election.

Crabtree was first elected in 1994 and took office in January of 1995. The salary for the part-time position was $250 a month.

In September 2004, the position became a full time position and the salary was set at $36,000 by Ordinance 356. According to that ordinance, the council is to adjust the pay on or before its first regularly scheduled meeting in December.

In December 2006, the council approved Ord. 435 setting the salary at $38,674.44 annually.

In a special meeting Dec. 30, 2008, the council amended the ordinance which sets the mayor's salary and changed the date from December to September.

In a September 2010 City Council meeting, council members reduced the mayor's salary from $40,000 to $26,050 for the term which would begin Jan. 1, 2011.

In July 2014, the council agreed to set the base salary for mayor at $25,000 for the upcoming term. Mayor Crabtree's salary was $45,000 in 2014.

"It's not really fixing Jackie's salary. It's fixing the salary for the office. It can be re-fixed in January. It's because of the election. This is not giving Jackie a raise," Howard Slinkard, then city attorney, explained to the City Council in 2014.

According to the municipal code 2.24.05: "The City Council shall, on or before its first regularly scheduled meting in June in the year in which the term of the office of Mayor expires, re-fix the compensation for the office of Mayor for the succeeding term of the office. (Ord. No. 513, Sec. 1)"

General News on 06/27/2018