Council ponders own pay raise

As she listened intently during a Charleston County Council budget planning session this week, Councilwoman Colleen Condon heard something that gave her pause — an automatic pay increase for council members that is built into the proposed budget next year.

Condon threw up a red flag, saying she didn't feel comfortable giving herself or her colleagues a raise in this tight budget year.

To the councilwoman's surprise, a county policy set in the mid-1990s automatically gives council members a raise every two years, when half of the council is up for re-election. Condon and Councilmen Henry Darby and Curtis Bostic are running for new terms this year.

Council members currently make $14,352 a year. The chairman earns $3,000 more, or $17,352. Members pick a new chairman each January.

The proposed increase would give council members about $500 more per year. The salary raises reflect the rate of inflation from the past two years divided by two.

Council's $171.2 million budget increased this year at a rate lower than the current rate of inflation of 4.4 percent, but Condon said council members should do what they can to keep a lid on the county's growing expenses.

"I don't think this is the year council ought to be looking at any increase," Condon said during Tuesday's special Finance Committee meeting. She was concerned county staff didn't ask council members to specify how much their raise would be. Staff had included the pay raise as mandated in the previously set policy.

Councilman Paul Thurmond said the automatic increase "seems to be totally ridiculous."

Last week, council members discussed how much of a cost-of-living increase county employees should receive next year. Council sets that increase amount each year.

Bostic said he doesn't like the message an automatic council pay increase sends to county employees.

Councilman Dickie Schweers suggested, as he did during talks about paying employees more, that the council look to the market for what's a fair salary for council members.

Councils' salaries vary statewide. Charleston County is South Carolina's third-largest, behind Greenville and Richland counties.

Councilman Curtis Inabinett, a former state representative, said that he understands some council members' hesitation, but that if members are deserving of a raise, they shouldn't be afraid to ask for one.

"All an individual has is his labor," he said. "I think all of us work pretty hard."

Councilman Teddie Pryor said they should take a closer look at the policy and not make any knee jerk reactions.

Council is expected to revisit the issue next week.

By the numbers

County councils are paid at different rates. Here are some examples:

County Population Council pay Chairman pay

Greenville 428,243 $21,495 $25,794

Richland 357,734 $14,000 $14,000

Charleston 342,973 $14,850* $17,850*

Berkeley 163,622, $12,000 $12,000

Aiken 152,307 $13,440 $13,440

Beaufort 147,316 $10,769 $14,000

Dorchester 123,505 $15,000 $15,000

*Charleston County is considering raising pay to those amounts.

Sources: South Carolina Association of Counties and the U.S. Census Bureau

The following shows members' salaries, their county's population and the chairman's pay.