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The Berryville City Council on Nov. 15 approved the first reading of a proposed ordinance that would increase Mayor Tim McKinney’s annual salary to $50,000.
McKinney, who was elected without opposition to a ninth term in office earlier this month, had asked the council in September to consider increasing his salary.
“I would like to ask you all to consider raising the mayor’s salary to something that is more in line with what other mayors of cities the size of Berryville make, especially in Carroll County,” McKinney wrote in a Sept. 16 email to council members. “I have never asked for a raise as I love the job and our town but my situation in life has changed from what I thought retirement might be for me.”
McKinney, who was first elected in 1990, said in the email that his next term would likely be his last.
“This will probably be my last term as mayor and I want to make it a memorable one,” wrote McKinney, 69, who retired from Entergy in 2008 and is the state’s longest- serving mayor. “I have been blessed with a good job and retirement that meets all my needs and some wants. A salary more in line with other mayors would let me save more for [my family’s] future.”
The council approved the ordinance to increase McKinney’s salary on a first reading without discussion at the Nov. 15 meeting.
The council also approved the first reading of an ordinance that would increase city attorney Clint Scheel’s salary from $26,000 to $30,000 a year.
Scheel was absent from the meeting, but McKinney thanked the council for their action.
“Thank y’all,” McKinney said. “I appreciate the raise. I know Clint does, too.”
City employees also will be paid more next year if the council approves McKinney’s proposed 2023 budget, which includes 6 percent raises for those employees.
“Initially the CPI (Consumer Price Index) was up over 8 percent when we looked at that,” McKinney said. “But after discussion and looking at what we can, I think we’re going to try to propose a 6 percent (increase). Inflation is coming down, and 8 percent, it’s going to stretch us pretty thin. We gave 6 percent last year also, so that’ll be 12 percent in two years. We might make the 7 or 8 percent, but I just feel like it would make us too tight.”
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