Update: The Administration and Finance Committee voted Aug. 27 to table the resolution that would raise the salaries of certain elected officials.
Mayor Joe Hogsett could receive his first pay raise since taking office at the same time the City-County Council is moving to investigate his administration for his handling of harassment allegations.
A proposal set to come before the council’s Administration and Finance Committee on Aug. 27 would increase the mayor’s salary for the first time in two decades — from $95,000 to $125,000, a 31% increase.
The bump would put his salary more in line with suburban mayors in Carmel, Fishers and Noblesville, all of whom make at least $125,000 per year.
The proposal, which would take effect in 2025, would also raise the salaries of seven elected countywide positions, including county assessor, auditor, clerk, coroner, recorder, surveyor and treasurer. Those positions haven’t seen a pay increase since 2010.
Council President Vop Osili, a Democrat who authored the proposal, told Mirror Indy that discussions about pay increases for countywide elected officials predate the council’s efforts to investigate the Hogsett administration.
[Council committee advances proposal to investigate Hogsett administration]
“We need to do what we believe is right in terms of compensation for those who serve the public,” Osili said. “Regardless of who the individual is, we’re talking about the office, not the individual. That’s how (this proposal) has come about.”
When asked if he was concerned about the timing of the proposal, Osili said “we’ll have that discussion.”
The council is poised to launch an investigative committee following allegations of harassment and abuse of power by Thomas Cook, the mayor’s former chief of staff and campaign manager. Cook’s actions toward three of his subordinates were detailed in investigations by Mirror Indy and IndyStar.
Councilors have said the committee will hire an outside firm to lead the investigation — with the power to collect evidence and subpoena witnesses.
Three Republicans on the council told Mirror Indy they had reservations about giving the mayor a salary increase.
“You shouldn’t be able to give yourself a pay raise while you’re in office,” Republican Minority Leader Brian Mowery said. “It’s not a great time to ask for a pay raise.”
The mayor opposed an increase to his salary in 2015. In a statement, Hogsett said that his position remains unchanged.
“I want to make it abundantly clear: if a proposal for salary increases for other elected officials reaches my desk with a pay raise for the Office of the Mayor included in that proposal, I will veto it,” the statement read in part.
Councilors voted in 2022 to raise their salaries beginning in 2024 from $11,400 to $31,075, with cost of living increases every year.
Hogsett vetoed the council’s effort to raise its salaries in 2019 but did not stand in the way of the 2022 proposal.
Peter Blanchard covers local government. Reach him at 317-605-4836 or peter.blanchard@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @peterlblanchard.
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