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The LaGrange City Council has approved an increase to the retirement plan for the council and the mayor’s salary. 

The issue was first discussed in October when City Manager Patrick Bowie said that city staff recently conducted a compensation study for the city council comparing LaGrange to what similar cities offer.  Bowe said the council’s salaries, currently $800 per month, are in line with what similar-sized cities are providing.

The retirement benefits, however, are lagging,  Bowie said, recommending an increase in the retirement from $40 to $75 per month. It would have a very minimal impact on the budget, as it would go through the city’s retirement plan provider.

Assistant City Manager Bill Bulloch said they looked at six similar cities that offered an average of $86 per month, so they decided to recommend upping the retirement from $45 to $75.

At the time, only Councilman Leon Childs voiced opposition to the potential retirement increase.    “I don’t approve of any kind of increase if it’s going to be off the back of the people,” Childs said. 

Councilman Mark Mitchell also suggested increasing the salary of the mayor, saying the mayor’s compensation is not in line with the work they do.

“I just want to be fair to our mayor because I know, I see it, and I know y’all see it that his job requires a whole lot more time than our job,” Mitchell said. “His phone probably doesn’t ever stop ringing.”   

Mayor Jim Arrington resisted the notion that he needed a raise and even left the room for much of the discussion. 

Ultimately, the council came to a majority consensus of increasing the mayor’s salary to $27,500.

On Tuesday, both matters came before the council for a vote. The increase to the council’s retirement benefits was approved by a vote of 4-2, with Councilmen Leon Childs and Tom Gore voting against the measure. The increase to the mayor’s pay was approved 5-1, with only Childs in opposition.

“It’s not that you don’t deserve this, because I know that you do. I know you work a lot. I know you do everything asked of you. But just at this time, with how my district, my community is, I cannot say yes to this right now,” Childs said to Arrington.

Arrington reminded Childs he wasn’t asking for the increase and noted the increase will not take effect until the next mayor takes office after the election in November.

The retirement change will take effect immediately.