PORTSMOUTH — City Council members in office next July will earn nearly double what the elected officials have been making for years.
Members unanimously voted this week to increase mayor and council member pay, prompted by state legislation granting localities the ability to raise city council pay for the first time in more than two decades.
The General Assembly passed legislation in April amending the maximum amounts that Virginia mayors and council members can earn. It creates new salary caps based on population, and nearly doubles the maximum local elected officials can earn if cities vote to increase pay. Portsmouth and Hampton are the first cities in the region to have taken steps to heed the new law.
The mayor’s annual salary will bump from $25,000 to $47,000, while council members will see their $23,000 salaries rise to $43,000 annually, beginning July 1, 2025, or the start of the 2026 fiscal year. Three council seats, as well as the mayor’s, will be on the ballot in November.
Mark Hugel said that means he and fellow council members Vernon Tillage and Bill Moody will see the raise since their seats aren’t up for reelection this year. He suggested delaying raises until fiscal 2027 after all seven seats will have faced an election, and also proposed staggering pay raises to take “several bites of this apple instead of one great big bite” at the maximum amounts. But Hugel was unsuccessful in getting support for a motion that would have granted the mayor a pay of $37,000 annually and council members $33,000 annually.
For a council often at odds, the salary raise offered an instance of overwhelming agreement, with members defending the raises and the commitment of the overall body. They emphasized the long hours speaking with constituents and attending meetings and events.
“The work of elected officials is a 24/7 job,” Tillage said. “I can’t take off the title of councilman when I go to Harris Teeter. I can’t take the title of councilman off when I go to Wal-Mart. I can’t even take it off when I go to a family restaurant and have dinner with my family. It’s just not one of those type of jobs.”
Moody said council members don’t ask to be reimbursed for tolls, and their mileage is generally covered only for travel over longer distances. Tillage said council members often come out-of-pocket for ads and other promotional materials for different city events.
Several of the nearly dozen speakers at Tuesday’s meeting agreed with the pay increases, noting the commitment and the decades since elected officials last received a pay bump. Some thought the pay increase was fair but questioned whether every member deserved it.
A few disagreed, however, voicing dissatisfaction with elected leaders’ decision-making on various city issues, tax rates and real estate assessments and what they regard as a lack of professionalism.
“I wish you would come together a little more,” said resident Sherman Tyler. “But I don’t think not paying you or punishing you for something you did last year or the year before is the answer. Pay these people what they’re worth. And if you don’t like who’s up there, you got the power of the vote. Remove them.”
Others didn’t disagree with a raise but disputed the leap to maximum caps. One resident said the salaries could amount to more than what many Portsmouth residents make. U.S. Census data show the city’s median household income was $57,154 as of 2022.
“We’re voting for future generations,” Vice Mayor Lisa Lucas-Burke said. “If you think about some of your children or some of your grandchildren who may want to serve on council in the future, they’re not going to come here for $23,000. So we have to do this for future generations that are coming after us.”
Council and mayor positions are part-time jobs, and many members hold other employment.
Hugel also said he asked about punting the question of raises to a ballot referendum but was told by the city attorney’s office that the state law doesn’t allow for such an option on this issue. Moody said he supports adding to the city’s future legislative wish list a provision that would tie council salary increases to employee general wage increases.
Natalie Anderson, 757-732-1133, natalie.anderson@virigniamedia.com
