Nikole Babb
nbabb@cherryroad.com

Council votes no changes for Council compensation

In the December 16 Augusta City Council meeting, the City Council voted to approve the 2025 job classification and salary schedule for employees of the city, with one change. The Council voted to make an amendment that no change would be given to their own compensation.

The 2025 2025 job classification and salary schedule included a 4% cost of living adjustment increase. The price index increase was noted at 2.6% this year, making the cost-of-living adjustment 1.4% more, which City Manager Josh Shaw noted is to make up for lost ground during the COVID-19 pandemic. A minimum wage of $15 was established for city workers to match other cities compensation and to keep up with the living wage.

In the original resolution, Resolution No. 2024-21, it also included a raise in pay for the governing body that includes the City Council and Mayor, which would be the same 4% mentioned above. The Council decided to amend the resolution and not raise the governing body salaries.

The current annual salaries are as follows:

Mayor – $5,460

Councilmember – $1,671

The 4% raise would’ve given the Mayor $5,678 and Councilmembers $1,738 each year. These wages are to recoup time, effort and expense it may take to attend meetings, public outings and more.

Reclassification of some job titles was also adjusted in order to include the City Manager in the classification and salary schedule for transparency, as the City of Augusta doesn’t typically disclose the City Manager’s salary. The Council, City Manager and Mayor expressed this change is necessary to maintain transparency with residents. Job grade 110 was created to categorize the job of City Manager. Later in the meeting, the Council chose to go into an Executive Session where they extended Shaw’s contract as City Manager until 2027. He also received a 3% merit raise along with a $2,500 increase in deferred compensation.

The approval of this resolution doesn’t adjust any current wages. All wage adjustments were approved in September when the Council planned the 2025 budget. The Augusta City Council will next meet on January 6 at 7pm at the Council Chambers of City Hall, 113 E. 6th Avenue.