About those city salaries

So how much do the members of Asheville City Council and Mayor Terry Bellamy get paid? What about City Manager Gary Jackson and the other department heads? Xpress has compared city salaries with those of two similarly sized North Carolina cities, finding that Asheville’s elected officials make substantially more compensation than their counterparts, while the salaries for top staff are roughly comparable.

With tight budgets, public officials’ salaries have become a public issue. After salary figures were obtained Xpress also got similar figures from Jacksonville (pop. 74,525) and Greenville (pop. 81,747), two North Carolina cities ranked just below and above Asheville in population, respectively.

Asheville pays its Council members and Mayor considerably more than Jacksonville and Greenville. Including a $6,195 expense allownace, Mayor Bellamy gets $24,897 a year in compensation, compared to $15,700 for Greenville’s mayor (including a $3,000 travel allowance) and $10,400 for Jacksonville’s (with a $200 vehicle allowance).

Asheville’s other elected officials also make more than their counterparts in the other two cities. Each of Asheville’s five Council members gets $18,281 in compensation a year, including a $4,475 expense allowance. That’s more than the $11,700 (including $3,000 for travel and $1,200 car allowance) that Greenville’s Council members pull in, and over twice the $7,200, with no expense or vehicle allowance, that Jacksonville’s Council members are paid.

Department heads make roughly similar salaries in Asheville and Greenville, but Asheville has more people in top positions than both cities. (15 compared to Greenville’s 12 and Jacksonville’s 10). Asheville is more likely to give vehicle allowances ranging from $2,400 to $7,200 annually. Greenville makes more extensive use of take-home vehicles for its top staff than Asheville does, though both that city and Jacksonville have some department heads that don’t receive a vehicle allowance at all; all of Asheville’s do.

Of course, population size doesn’t tell the whole story. Cost-of-living, internal organization and political priorities vary widely between cities. The number of years on the job also affects the relative salary for a staff member. Several of Asheville’s department heads — Roderick Simmons, Scott Burnette and Kelley Dickens, for example — are relatively new to their positions, meaning their salary is still at the lower end of the city scale for their respective jobs.

Local government salaries can be a contentious issue. One argument used for higher salaries for local elected officials is that it makes holding office more viable for those who aren’t wealthy, and defenders of local government salaries often cite the need to offer competitive compensation with the private sector to avoid turn-over and attract qualified people to staff positions.

But it is also the public’s money and critics of local government often assert that greater scrutiny is needed, or that staff and elected officials are overpaid compared to the level of service citizens receive.

Full salary figures below.

— David Forbes, senior news reporter

Asheville

Mayor Terry Bellamy
Salary: $18,792
Expense Allowance:  $6,195

Vice-Mayor Brownie Newman
Salary: $15,596
Expense Allowance:  $4,475

Council Members Cecil Bothwell, Jan Davis, Esther Manheimer, Gordon Smith and Bill Russell
Salary:  $13,806
Expense Allowance:  $4,475

Greenville

Mayor:  $11,500, $1,200 annual car allowance;
$3,000 budgeted for out-of-town travel

Mayor Pro-Tem:
Salary: $7,800, $1,200 annual car allowance;
$3,000 budgeted for out-of-town travel

Council Members (5)
Salary: $7,500 + $1,200 annual car allowance;
$3,000 budgeted for out-of-town travel

Jacksonville

Mayor
Salary: $10,200
Vehicle allowance: $200.00

Council member
Salary: $7,200
Vehicle allowance: N/A