Milwaukee leader pay raises; see the proposed salary changes

MILWAUKEE - The Milwaukee mayor's office proposes pay raises for the mayor, common council members and other city leaders. The proposal calls for a 15% raise for those who are elected and a 10% boost for 60 non-elected leaders.

Right now, Mayor Cavalier Johnson is paid roughly $147,000 per year. The job's salary has not changed since 2008. Now, the mayor's team is looking to boost it to $169,000.

The mayor's office put together a spreadsheet, which FOX6 News obtained, comparing Milwaukee salaries to similar cities. It found the mayor of Columbus, Ohio makes $197,000, Indianapolis' mayor makes $95,000 and Kansas City's mayor makes $141,000. 

The mayor's office also compared Milwaukee Common Council member salaries with those found in similar cities. Columbus offered $57,000, Kansas City paid $70,000, Cleveland paid $80,000 in 2020, and Detroit in 2019 paid $82,000.

If the proposal becomes law, common council members would also see a boost for the first time in 15 years – from $73,000 per year now to $84,000.

"As a practical matter, inflation has effectively reduced the value of that salary. We’ve had 15 years worth of inflation which has effectively reduced the $74,000 that has been set up for those 15 years," said Ald. Robert Bauman. "It’s a controversial subject. There’s no doubt about that. There’s no point dodging it, because there are citizens out there that think aldermen should be volunteers or paid nominal salaries, that they signed up for the job and that’s the deal."

The mayor's Department of Employee Relations director Harper Donahue, IV sent the proposal to common council members, which FOX6 News obtained. Radio host Dan O'Donnell was the first to report about the proposed pay raises.

If approved, the common council president's pay would rise from $82,000 to $94,000. 

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"It’s a proposal that we received from the administration, something we’ll consider," said current Council President Jose Perez. "We’ll talk about it, and we have questions on where the long-term funding is coming from, how we sustain it, but executive pay is an issue that hasn’t been dealt with at the city for many years, over 15, and we want to make sure that we are competitive and retain talent."

Beside the 15% raises for the city's elected leaders, the proposal would offer a 10% raise to roughly 60 non-elected city leaders.

"A lot of Council members are concerned with some of the performance of these department heads," said Bauman. "We don’t think the taxpayers are getting their money’s worth today, at current compensation rates, much less significant increases."

"I understand the argument. On paper, a lot of our senior positions, department heads, are not competitive with other cities our size, or the private sector. There’s no question about that. We had an outstanding commissioner of public works leave Milwaukee, move to New Orleans, where he was making more than double what he was earning Milwaukee," Bauman said. 

"The past four city engineers have left for the private sector or the federal government, again, mostly compensation issues," added Bauman, the public works committee chair. "They all claimed they liked working for Milwaukee, they liked the job, they liked the challenges, but they have families, they have futures to consider."

In the past, the mayor's salary served as a cap for other city employees. However, under the new proposal, some salaries, like the police chief's, could go higher 

The police chief's salary right now is the same as the mayor's: $147,000. Under the proposal, it could reach a range of $164,000 to $229,000. The same range would be offered to the city health commissioner, public works commissioner and fire chief. The city engineer pay would also get boosted to a range of $146,000 to $204,000.

The Milwaukee Common Council will weigh the proposal and hear from the public. FOX6 asked if an $11,000 increase for common council members was a good idea. Some aldermen and woman refused to talk. Others said it was still early in discussions.

"The position is full-time. Aldermen tend to be their first call for dealing with almost any public service issue, and as a full-time job, I think most people agree that it should be compensated as a full-time position. And then the question is well at what rate?" Bauman said. "Frankly based on comparative salaries in other cities of our size, you know $84,000 is not out of line. But I’m sure there are citizens who feel it is out of line and that is the nature of the process, and I’m not sure it’s going to pass."

"We are at the consideration phase. It’s a draft," said the council's finance chair, Ald. Marina Dimitrijevic. "We have to keep having conversations with the community, with ourselves, we’re analyzing peer cities, and we’re looking at the full review."

The idea of pay raises for elected leaders could be hotly debated in a city where the U.S. Census Bureau reports the median Milwaukee family makes $45,000.