An Atlanta city council committee has accepted a report from the City of Atlanta Elected Official Compensation Commission which recommends that council members’ salaries be increased by 76 percent raising their current incomes from $72,360 to $127,500. The council president’s salary would go from $74,400 to $132,500, an increase of 78 percent. However the pay raises, if approved, would not go into effect until 2026.
The same report recommends school board members receive a pay increase of 133 percent which would increase current salaries from $30,000 to $70,000. The report also recommends that the school board positions become full time and that the salaries would be commensurate with the hours worked.
Atlanta’s mayor would also get a 36 percent increase taking the salary for the position from $202,730 to $271,000.
Council members last saw a salary increase in January of 2021. If approved, the proposed new raises would take effect in 2026. Mayor Dickens current term ends on Jan. 5, 2026.
“We wanted to make sure if people wanted to serve in an elected capacity, that they would be able to do so at a salary that would allow them to be able. If you’re a single father and taking care of children or a single mother taking care of children, that you would be able to afford to buy a place in the City of Atlanta. And that was important for us to express as a value,” said Quinton Washington, chair of the Elected Officials Compensation Commission.
The Committee on Council accepted the report with a 5-0 vote.
While a 5 – 0 vote accepted the Compensation Commission’s report, the salary increases would only go into effect if legislation outlining the changes was proposed and approved by the full city council.
Washington said they looked at Atlanta’s housing market, a desire for leadership stability, peer cities and workload for each position as factors in recommending these salary adjustments.
