Title
Notice/Advertisement Title: Citizens' Commission on Elected Official Compensation Minutes
Contact Name: Kirsten Estose
Contact Telephone Number: (614) 645-2728
Contact Email Address: kmestose@columbus.gov
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The 2026 Citizens' Commission on Elected Official Compensation met for the seventh time on Thursday, March 26 at 8:30am in Columbus City Hall, Council Chambers (90 W Broad St, Second Floor, Columbus OH 43125). Chair Christopher Moses, Commissioner Andrea Blevins, Commissioner Liz Caslin-Turner, Commissioner Alyvia Johnson, and Commissioner Monica L. Womack were in attendance.
Call to Order
Chair Moses called the meeting to order at 8:34am. The primary purpose of this meeting is for the Commission to deliberate and work towards making their final recommendations for compensation of elected officials.
Discussion to Determine Compensation Recommendations
Chair Moses asked the Commission whether they believe that the historical parity between the City Auditor and the City Attorney should continue. All Commissioners agreed to continue with this tradition.
The Commission discussed the challenges of benchmarking Columbus' City Auditor, as few other cities have like-to-like comparisons given the breadth of the role in Columbus.
The Commission discussed some preliminary percentage increases for upward adjustments across roles. They discussed the large scope of responsibilities across all of Columbus' elected officials, given the city's size and scope of services for residents and the surrounding communities. They also discussed a shared feeling that some percentage increases be relative to others. For example, all felt that the Attorney and Auditor should increase at the same rate. Many felt that the increase for Council Members should exceed that of the other roles, given how underpaid the role currently is in the Commission's judgment.
The Commission also discussed the fact that City Council will have to vote on their recommendations and whether or not to take into account the probability that recommendations will be accepted. They weighed whether they should make lower recommendations in order to make such recommendations more palatable to the Council, which as a body is responsive to public opinion. The Commission ultimately felt that it is their role to represent the public opinion as the citizen appointees to the Commission, to make the best compensation recommendations possible, and to leave the choice to accept, modify, or reject the recommendations to the City Council.
Presentation from Dr. Bill LaFayette, Regionomics
The Commission heard a presentation from Dr. Bill LaFayette on the Consumer Price Index and the cost-of-living-adjustment portion of their duties.
Chair Moses asked a question about using chained CPI. Chair Moses asked a question about what influences the cost-of-living uniquely in Columbus and what can be expected in the future. Chair Moses asked a question about how growth in Columbus with increasing jobs and population project could impact inflation and the cost-of-living.
Recess
The Commission adjourned for a brief recess at 9:59am.
Deliberation on Cost-of-Living Adjustments
After discussion, the Commission voted to use the "all items in US city average, all urban consumers, not seasonally adjusted" CPI, and to recommend the maximum COLA for each year over which they have purview. Commissioner Blevins motioned, Commissioner Womack seconded, and all Commissioners were in favor.
Continued Discussion to Determine Compensation Recommendations
After discussion, the Commission came to a tentative consensus on the following base-pay increases to take effect in 2030.
Auditor: 10%
Attorney: 10%
Mayor: 18%
Council Member: 28%
Council President: 32%
The Commission plans to review estimates for how COLAs will impact pay through 2029 and revise their recommendations after that point, if needed. The Commission's final report will speak to the rationale for each final recommendation.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at approximately 10:32am.
The next meeting of the Commission will be on April 2nd at 8:30am in Conference Room 225 in City Hall.