https://www.americancityandcounty.com/wp-content/themes/acc_child/assets/images/logo/footer-logo.png
  • Home
  • Co-op Solutions
  • Hybrid Work
  • Commentaries
  • News
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Podcast
  • Resources & Events
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • IWCE 2022
    • How to Contribute
    • Municipal Cost Index – Archive
    • Equipment Watch Page
    • American City & County Awards
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Privacy Statement
    • Terms of Service
American City and County
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • Co-op Solutions
  • Hybrid Work
  • Commentaries
  • News
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Podcasts
  • Resources/Events
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers/eBooks
    • IWCE 2022
    • How to Contribute
    • American City & County Awards
    • Municipal Cost Index
    • Equipment Watch Page
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Stament
    • Terms of Service
  • newsletter
  • Administration
  • Economy & Finance
  • Procurement
  • Public Safety
  • Public Works & Utilities
  • Smart Cities & Technology
  • Magazine
acc.com


$3 is too much to pay for a city councilperson

$3 is too much to pay for a city councilperson

City councilpeople are a dime a dozen in Fort Worth, Texas.(Actually, they're more like 13 cents apiece for eight.) In Dallas, they're even cheaper. There,
  • Written by Janet Ward
  • 1st November 1997

City councilpeople are a dime a dozen in Fort Worth, Texas.(Actually, they’re more like 13 cents apiece for eight.) In Dallas, they’re even cheaper. There, you can get a city councilperson for four cents.

But if you live in San Jose, Calif., and decide you want to buy a city councilperson, it’s gonna cost you a whopping $4.09. Of course, in San Jose, they come with their own cell phones, and you can pretty much get by just feeding them salads.

Those are some of the results that Research Atlanta, a non-partisan, non-profit organization under the auspices of the Georgia State University School of Policy Studies came up with when researchers updated their 1994 Governing Body Survey. The update was requested by Atlanta’s Compensation Commission, which was charged with determining where the city’s councilpeople’s pay stood on a nationwide basis and making recommendations based on that information.

The researchers asked 29 cities for information on the salaries and other compensation offered to city administrators – mayors and councilpeople. Cities were chosen based on comparability in size with Atlanta and its metropolitan region. Researchers tried to account for differences, like extent of powers, that could contribute to a disparity in numbers.

The findings are interesting. Fort Worth, for example, pays its eight councilpeople $3,750 and gives them a $2,500 spending allowance. That means that its city residents are paying just 13 cents per city councilperson. If the total metropolitan population is included, that figure drops to 11 cents. Unless the Fort Worth City Council spends its meeting time playing Hangman and writing haikus, I’d have to say 13 cents is a steal.

Similar pretty good deals are enjoyed by the citizens of Seattle (15 cents per resident); Charlotte, N.C., (34 cents); Indianapolis (40 cents); and San Francisco (44 cents).

On the flip side, Atlanta’s residents (read “me”) are spending $3.66 apiece for a city council that is currently somewhere between the Dallas Cowboys and the National Enquirer’s photo department on the ethics scale. That amount will go down a bit after the first of the year when the council is reduced from 18 to 15 members. (St. Louis residents spend $2.39 each for their councilpeople, but there are 28 of them!)

This prompts me to suggest a standard: A city councilperson should never cost more than a draft beer.

Tags:

Most Recent


  • Bloomberg
    Three U.S. cities to adopt Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayors Challenge-winning project to combat climate change
    Bloomberg Philanthropies has announced that seven global cities, including three in the United States, will be adopting Stockholm’s Biochar Project, which turns plant waste from parks and homes into a charcoal-like substance that residents can use in their yards to help combat climate change. The project was the winner of the 2014 Bloomberg Philanthropies European […]
  • 10 cities ideal for hybrid or full-time telecommuters seeking an outdoor lifestyle
    When the pandemic was first realized, cities emptied out, highways were suddenly devoid of cars and storefronts shuttered overnight. The assumption in many communities was that it would last for a few months and then everything would return to normal—those who’d left would return to their office jobs and apartments.  But these two years later, […]
  • $3 is too much to pay for a city councilperson
    Take American City & County's budgeting survey
    With the recently passed infrastructure-related legislation by the federal government, local administrators across the United States are poised to make historic investments into their communities.  Given the generational precedence of this action, we’re curious about the state of local budgets—what expense lines are increasing the fastest year-over-year? In what area has federal funding been the […]
  • Atlanta, Ga.
    Six cities and counties will take stock of underutilized assets in Rethinking Revenue incubator
    The Government Finance Officers Association in collaboration with various organizations including Urban3 and the Sorenson Impact Center has been spearheading a forward-looking approach to public financing, the Rethinking Revenue Project, an investigation of the foundational structure of government revenue and underutilized assets, for about a year now. A new initiative launched by the collaboration is […]

Leave a comment Cancel reply

-or-

Log in with your American City and County account

Alternatively, post a comment by completing the form below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • NLC releases State of Cities 2021 report
  • How governments can keep employees safe as they return to work
  • Lessons from your friendly neighborhood public service employees
  • North Texas alliance partners with Marketplace.city on smart government solutions

White papers


How to Assemble a Rockstar Website Redesign Steering Committee

7th June 2022

Hand Hygiene: Compliance Matters

23rd May 2022

What it Takes to Build a Winning Esports Program

23rd May 2022
view all

Events


PODCAST


Young Leaders Episode 4 – Cyril Jefferson – City Councilman, High Point, North Carolina

13th October 2020

Young Leaders Episode 3 – Shannon Hardin – City Council President, Columbus, Ohio

27th July 2020

Young Leaders Episode 2 – Christian Williams – Development Services Planner, Goodyear, Ariz.

1st July 2020
view all

Twitter


AmerCityCounty

Three U.S. cities to adopt Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayors Challenge-winning project to combat climate change dlvr.it/ST4bjk

29th June 2022
AmerCityCounty

10 cities ideal for hybrid or full-time telecommuters seeking an outdoor lifestyle dlvr.it/ST4T5g

29th June 2022
AmerCityCounty

Take American City & County’s budgeting survey dlvr.it/ST0qQP

28th June 2022
AmerCityCounty

Six cities and counties will take stock of underutilized assets in Rethinking Revenue incubator dlvr.it/ST0ZVp

28th June 2022
AmerCityCounty

Seamless Cooperative Experience Saves Indiana City Exponentially in Time and Money dlvr.it/SSxp95

27th June 2022
AmerCityCounty

10 best large cities for fishing dlvr.it/SSxbSZ

27th June 2022
AmerCityCounty

Generational differences present an opportunity to reinvent public sector service delivery dlvr.it/SSxbN7

27th June 2022
AmerCityCounty

Report: Local and state governments are facing a retention crisis; the worst could be yet to come dlvr.it/SSnmS7

24th June 2022

Newsletters

Sign up for American City & County’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about local governments.

Resale Insights Dashboard

The Resale Insights Dashboard provides model-level data for the entire used equipment market to help you save time and money.

Municipal Cost Index

Updated monthly since 1978, our exclusive Municipal Cost Index shows the effects of inflation on the cost of providing municipal services

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital audience? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • IWCE’s Urgent Communications
  • IWCE Expo

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us

FOLLOW American City and County ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookies Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2022 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X