The Oxford Board of Aldermen voted to increase their salary with no public opposition Tuesday night.
The aldermen’s salaries will increase 32 percent from $14,000 to $18,500, and the mayor’s salary will increase from $72,800 to $85,000, a nearly 20 percent raise. This will make Patterson’s salary nearly $25,000 more per year than Madison, a slightly larger city in the state.
The new salaries were recommended by a six-person compensation committee independent from the board. City Clerk Ashley Atkinson said the committee based its recommendation off of cities across the state with similar population sizes.
Members included Corderick Govan, Richard Devoe, Jen McMillian, William Riggs, Jerad Myers and Eli Gross.
The new amount will go into effect the first of July 2017, one month after the next regular election in June.
Second-term Mayor Pat Patterson announced the final reading and, with no public comments made, the board voted unanimously to approve.
Oxford has a population of 22,314, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The average mayoral salary in Mississippi is $31,969, and the average alderman salary is $8,533, according to the 2015 Mississippi Municipal Salary Survey by the John C. Stennis Institute of Government at Mississippi State University.
Mississippi state legislators earn $10,000 per year with a per diem allowance.
Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves earns $60,000 per year and Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann earns $90,000 per year.
