Letters: City clerk explains increasein City Council compensation

What has appeared on your pages concerning the compensation of City Council members has not always been as informative as it could be. Your readers will have their own opinions, but those opinions should be based on hard facts.

Council stipends were last increased in 2002. Since November of that year, the stipend has been $434.15 per month. The council did not take allowable increases of 10% in 2004 or 2006.

To take effect in January 2009, the Council has introduced an increase of $176.77 per month. This $176.77 is correctly referred to as a 40 percent increase over the $434.15 base.

The council is also, theoretically, eligible to receive "management benefits." The cost of these benefits is taken out of a $1,360 monthly allowance, which is the same as the city's management employees are entitled to receive.

Unlike management employees, the members of the council cannot use anything like the full monthly allowance. They are legally barred from taking a cash benefit. The only thing they can really sign up for is health insurance, vision, dental and ambulance. At full subscription for the employee alone, these cost the city less than $600 per month.

While it is true that the monthly allowance is $1,360, the available choices of what to spend that on come to less than $600 for council members. Even though there is a proposal to add a term life insurance policy to the list of choices, the cost for everything would still be under $600.

L. Dianne Nickerson

Crescent City Clerk