WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — Monday night, Warner Robins city council leaders discussed doubling their annual salary.
"The amount that our council makes, $10,000 a year, is extremely, extremely low from what our council makes across the state," Mayor LaRhonda Patrick said.
Patrick says a pay increase has been a topic of discussion for a while, and they found surrounding governments like Sandy Springs, Marietta, Albany, Johns Creek, Valdosta, Alpharetta paid more.
"Larger ones we understand, but the ones smaller than us or the same size we didn't," Patrick said.
We did our own digging. According to U.S. Census data, the closest cities in population are Roswell, Johns Creek, Albany and Alpharetta.
According to city code for Johns Creek and Albany, their leaders make $15,000 a year.
Leaders in Roswell, the largest city of the bunch, make $18,000 a year.
However, the city clerk in Alpharetta, the smallest city, tells me in 2026 they will raise their officials salaries to $25,000 a year. However, Alpharetta operates on a larger budget and has a population of over 65,000.
Monday night leaders shared their hope to bump their pay to $20,000, but the proposal was met with opposition.
"I think you need to talk to the citizens of Warner Robins to see if they feel you deserve raises and if so, how much," Mike Hatcher shared during public comments.
Another woman shared the additional money could instead go toward maintenance projects throughout the city.
"Those concerns are very valid as we try to be good stewards of the taxpayers dollars," Councilman Derek Mack said.
He says that was seen just last year when they raised city employee's salaries without increasing taxes.
"We gave the entire city raises we were the last to be considered," he said.
Councilman Keith Lauritsen agrees, that the city is responsible with budgeting. He says they always keep the millage rate low, and until recently wages too.
"We have always been very frugal and very responsible with our city's money. We were able to do the raises without raising taxes so when we do something we think about it long and hard," he shared.
Last time a raise for council was on the stand in 2019, Lauritsen opposed it. This time, he's on board.
"I think something needs to be done because we, I mean, we've had inflation across the board," Lauritsen said.
Mack said echoed the inflation concerns, adding that they also sacrifice a lot of time to be dedicated to their roles.
"We're at Walmart, we're bombarded with questions. We go to church, we're bombarded with questions, but we signed up for that and that's what we're here for," he said.
Leaders will take a vote at their Oct. 21 meeting. If approved, council members wouldn't see the money until 2026.
By the time the potential raises would be implemented in 2026, three council seats will be up for election.