Tallahassee voters to decide $45,000 city commissioner pay raise after conflicting decision

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Tallahassee voters will get to decide on a $45,000 pay increase for their city commissioners following a conflicting decision by the body on Wednesday.

The commission voted 3-2 to put a charter amendment on the city’s 2024 November ballot, allowing citizens to choose the best course of action. The vote came after a charter review committee recommended the pay raise.

City commissioners currently make just over $48,000, and the increase would nearly double their salaries to closer match Mayor John Dailey’s income of $96,000.

Dailey supported the amendment and was joined by Mayor Pro-Tem Curtis Richardson and Commissioner Dianne Williams-Cox. Commissioners Jeremy Matlow and Jacqueline Porter opposed it.

Williams-Cox emphasized that raising the salary for commissioners would allow for more citizens to potentially run and get elected to the body without having to already hold a significant amount of wealth or be in a position, such as retirement, where they could easily take up a seat.

“When I came to the commission, I fully expected to work another job, because I was working a job when I did this,” she said. “But I wasn’t able to do that and represent the citizens of Tallahassee appropriately, I felt.”

She factored in how the county commissioners each earn just over $90,000 per year. Even those who represent single-member districts. All city commissioners are voted at-large and are each accountable for the entire population of Tallahassee.

Matlow emphasized a point he had made in the past about how he would not be willing to support a pay increase for commissioners until the city came to an adequate agreement with the firefighter unions who are currently seeking higher salaries.

“If we can’t be trusted to make sure our firefighters are paid fairly, but then we’ll take this knowing that there’s an increase, that’s just inconceivable to me,” he said.

“I don’t think we should ever be paid more than the lowest paid city employee,” he added.

Richardson argued that taking a position such as Matlow’s, where the amendment should not even be considered on the ballot, is “disingenuous.”

He explained how he intends to vote in favor of a pay increase if it gets on the ballot, not because he needs a larger income, but because, as Williams-Cox said, it would motivate more people to run and win seats on the commission.

Matlow made the case that there is “no shortage of applicants” for city commission seats. There has, however, been a growing shortage of those interested in entering the firefighting profession in Tallahassee, due to its low salary.

Dailey said that although he supports the motion to place the amendment on the ballot, he is not sure if he would personally vote for it at the ballot box.

“What is brought before us today is whether we’re going to put this on the ballot for citizens to vote,” he said. “This is one of the few opportunities of direct democracy that our government has.”

“The bottom line is that [the charter review committee] wants us to put it on the ballot so the citizens can decide after it has been thoroughly studied through the [committee],” he continued. “I’m a big proponent of the charter review [committee] process. I’m a big proponent of taking seriously the recommendations that are properly studied and come out of this committee.”

The review committee consisted of 10 appointed members who were tasked with holding public meetings to collect input on various potential reforms to the city’s charter. The group ultimately held seven total meetings throughout the first three months of 2024.

In its final recommendations, the committee compared other similarly sized cities to Tallahassee and what they pay their elected commissioners.

It found that many municipalities with closely sized populations pay their city leaders significantly more. Examples included Fort Lauderdale, where commissioners make $88,000 per year; and Cape Coral, where commissioners earn a $40,000 stipend in addition to their $41,000 salary.

Matlow is supporting Porter in her 2024 reelection efforts to the commission, as well as Dorothy Inman-Johnson, who is running against Richardson.

Dailey is supporting Richardson in his reelection and has also endorsed Rudy Ferguson, one of Porter’s challengers.