KIMBALL, Tenn. – A move to raise the salaries of Kimball’s mayor and vice mayor has failed.
In May, Alderman Mark Payne proposed doubling the mayor’s annual salary from $17,400 to $34,800 and creating a separate compensation package for the vice mayor that would increase from $7,200 to $9,600 annually.
The last increase either of those positions got was in 2005.
“More money being spent here is going to put more on whoever is mayor and vice mayor here,” Payne said last month.
But a change like that requires the Kimball Board of Mayor and Aldermen to vote twice to amend the city code.
City Attorney Billy Gouger said last month’s discussion about the matter raised two issues: whether the board could change the compensation during the term of office, and whether it could legally differentiate pay between the vice mayor and other aldermen.
“That can legally be done,” he said. “Under the charter, [the board] can do it as long as the budget is modified or approved in such as way as payroll expenditures are increased. Legally, there are no issues.”
Increasing the vice mayor’s compensation must be “tied to the position and not to the person,” Gouger said.
At the board’s June meeting, Payne motioned to approve Ordinance 248 on first reading, which would increase the salaries to the proposed amounts, and Mayor Rex Pesnell seconded.
Aldermen John Matthews and Johnny Sisk voted no, and the motion failed on a 2-2 tie.
Vice Mayor Jerry Don Case would have cast the deciding vote, but he was absent.
Officials did not say whether they would take up the matter again later.
“We’ll just move on to the next item, then,” Pesnell said.
In other business, Police Chief Tommy Jordan announced officially his retirement as of July 7.
In a letter, Jordan thanked the board for his employment with the town since 2000. He has been chief for about 12 years.
“Since coming to this town, I have played a role as a patrolman, lieutenant, and ended my years as the police chief,” Jordan wrote. “It has been a pleasure working with various members of the board and police officers that have been here over the past 17 years.”
Jordan said he plans to enjoy “less stressful days” and “more time on the golf course.”
“We wish him well in his retirement,” Pesnell said. “The decision is hard to make sometimes, and he struggled with it for a while. He finally decided that’s what he wanted to do.”
Ryan Lewis is based in Marion County. Contact him at ryanlewis34@gmail.com.