'Increases are justified.' Canton Mayor Thomas Bernabei seeks pay hike for top staff

CANTON − With less than two months left in office, Mayor Thomas Bernabei wants to boost the salaries of his top staff.

Bernabei, whose second four-year term ends Dec. 31, is asking City Council to increase the salaries of the service director and the safety director from $109,903 a year to $127,000 a year, a 16% increase. He also is seeking to increase the annual salary of the finance director from $104,963 to $115,000, which is a nearly 10% increase, and raise the annual salary of the economic development director from $97,850 to $115,000, a nearly 18% increase.

Each of the salaries would increase by another 3% on Jan. 1, due to a raise that council passed on Monday for nonunion city employees.

Council is expected to discuss the mayor's request during an upcoming committee meeting. At least one council member already has questioned the fairness of the salary adjustments.

Mayor Thomas Bernabei: 'Increases are justified'

Bernabei said the increases are based on authority and job responsibility.

He said a review of the safety and service directors’ salaries in comparison to other city employees and similar positions “demonstrate these increases are justified.”

“These are arguably the two most demanding positions with the most responsibility within the city,” said Bernabei, noting that the directors are the appointing authorities for all service and safety employees. “However, their base pay is lower than other employees who they manage and other professional positions within the city.”

A Canton Repository review of city payroll records shows 14 city employees (excluding judges) earn a higher salary than Safety Director Andrea Perry and Service Director John Highman, including the police chief, fire chief, three police captains and the superintendents of the Water Reclamation Facility and Collection Systems.

Bernabei estimates that 35 employees earn higher gross wages than the two directors once overtime, holiday pay and other incentives are included.

He said the positions of finance director and economic director are similarly important.

“Although not managerial roles, virtually all departments and the success of the city relies on the effectiveness of these individuals,” Bernabei said.

He noted that Finance Director Mark Crouse is responsible for developing and overseeing a budget of roughly $300 million, comparing the responsibility to that of a chief financial officer in the private sector.

He said the city relies on the economic development director to grow its tax base to support city operations. He noted that Christopher Hardesty, who was hired in May 2022, already has established seven tax incentive financing districts that are estimated to generate $300,000 in annual revenue and funding for property development.

A Repository survey in August of economic development director salaries found that Akron, with a population more than two times higher than Canton’s population of nearly 70,000 residents, pays its director of business retention and expansion an annual salary of $127,837. The survey also found that Cuyahoga Falls, which has a population of 50,655, pays its economic development director $133,392, and Massillon, with a population of 32,292, pays its full-time director $79,144 a year.

Council approves 3% raise for roughly 300 Canton employees

City Council on Monday approved a 3% salary increase for management and nonunion employees, as well as for the mayor, city council members, auditor and treasurer. The raises take effect Jan. 1.

The increase for the 293 management and nonbargaining employees will add $491,000 to next year’s operating budget, according to Finance Director Mark Crouse.

Crouse said the 3% raise for the mayor, council, auditor and treasurer would add $18,000 to the budget for 2024.

Police officers and firefighters already are in line for 3% raises under their union contracts. Employees covered by the two city units of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union will receive a 2% raise. All five of the city’s employee union contracts expire in December 2024.

Ward 9 Councilman Frank Morris was the lone member to oppose the ordinance to cap the raise for elected officials at 3%.

Under current city law, elected officials receive an automatic pay raise based on the previous year's consumer price index for urban consumers, which would have resulted in a 3.7% increase for 2024. Bernabei had suggested council cap the raises for elected officials at 3% to be in line with other city employees.

Morris said his "no" vote isn’t about wanting more money; it’s about principle. He said Bernabei and council Majority Leader Bill Smuckler urged council to cap the raises for elected officials in fairness to other city employees.

“I felt that if you are going to guilt us into 3%, then why would you turn around and increase your cabinet (salaries)?” Morris said. “That wasn’t fair to the rest of the city employees.”

Reach Repository staff writer Kelli Weir at 330-580-8339 or kelli.weir@cantonrep.com.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Canton Mayor Thomas Bernabei wants to give top staff large pay raises