The Town Counsel at its meeting on Wednesday (August 24, 2022) will be considering an ordinance to increase the compensation of the town council members and planning and zoning commission members. Also, for the first time the Clerk’s salary is being set by ordinance even though required by law to do so in prior years.
When I ran for office in June 2020, I looked at the Virgin Municipal Code (VMC). VMC § 3.06.030 listed the salaries:
| Mayor | $400.00 |
| Councilmembers | $100.00 |
| Planning and Zoning Chair | $85.00 |
| Planning and Zoning Commissioners | $65.00 |
I ran for office with the only expectation that I would be getting a $100 per month as compensation. In February, I saw that more than $100 dollars was deposited into my account. The delay was due to Town setting up my banking information, so I received 2 months of compensation in February. Even with two months of compensation, I still receive more than $200. When I learned that the actual amount was $350 per month, I contacted the mayor and told her that we need to amend VMC § 3.06.030 to reflect the current amounts so that we are transparent with the public. She agreed but asked if I could hold off until after this year’s budget because we were going to increase the monthly compensation, and that way we are not processing two amendments within a short time of each other. A reasonable request. Although I did inform the mayor and the city treasurer that I was not in favor of an increase without a significant reason or additional workload such as increasing meeting to include the possibility of work meetings.
In July, I again noticed that my monthly pay had gone up. I notified the mayor that even though the money was in the budget it still needed to be appropriated which is accomplished by a salary ordinance after a hearing pursuant to state law. The salary ordinance was originally going to be considered in July, but due a miscommunication there was not sufficient time to publish the notice of public hearing. Thus, the August hearing on the proposed ordinance instead of in July. In drafting the ordinance, I discovered that the Town had increased the compensation of both elected and appointed officials numerous times without an ordinance nor holding a public hearing.
It appears that the amounts enumerated in VMC § 3.06.030 were enacted on September 15, 2015. I don’t know if a hearing was held prior to setting the compensation. The compensation was set by Resolution No. 2015-092315. This resolution had a title reading: “An Ordinance providing for the compensation of elected and statutory officers of Virgin Town”.
My research shows that compensation was amended in 2014 (I couldn’t find the ordinance setting the compensation in 2014) and then again in every year thereafter:
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2109 | 2020 | 2021 | |
| PZ | $60 | — | — | — | $160 | — | $210 | $250 |
| PZC | $75 | $85 | — | $85 | $185 | $200 | $275 | $325 |
| TC | $100 | — | — | — | $200 | — | $275 | $350 |
| Mayor | $200 | — | $400 | — | $500 | $600 | $700 | $1000 |
The foregoing compensation numbers were provided by the Town’s accountant. I couldn’t find an ordinance setting the compensation for the above years except for the 2015 Resolution with the title “Ordinance”.
The new salary ordinance provides:
The monthly compensation of the elected officers and statutory/appointed officers shall be as follows:
| Mayor | |
| Town Councilmembers | |
| Planning and Zoning Commission Chair | |
| Planning and Zoning Commissioners |
And the annual salary of the Recorder/Town Clerk shall be as follows:
| Recorder/Town Clerk | $56,000.00 |
The Utah statutes are:
Utah Code Section 10-3-818(1) provides that “elective and statutory officers of municipalities shall receive such compensation for their services as the governing body may fix by ordinance adopting compensation or compensation schedules enacted after public hearing”.
Utah Code Section 10-3-818(4) provides that “after the conclusion of the public hearing, the governing body may enact an ordinance fixing, changing, or amending the compensation of any elective or appointive officer of the municipality or adopting a compensation schedule applicable to any officer or officers”.
Utah Code Section 10-9a-301 provides for the appointment of planning commission, which are statutory/appointed officers of the Town.
Utah Code Section 10-9-916(1) provides for the appointment of the recorder, which is a statutory/appointed officer of the Town, and Utah Code Section 10-1-104(9) provides that the term recorder applies to the town clerk.
State law requires any change to compensation of its elected or appointed/statutory officers be set or changed by ordinance after a properly noticed public hearing. As noted above, the Town has set and changed compensation over the years without a hearing or an ordinance except for one instance. Ignorance or intentional lack of transparency? I will let you be the judge. Irrespective of your conclusion, the Town is ending years of secrecy, accidental or intentional, and entering a new era of transparency with the salary ordinance on Wednesday.