Members of council discuss the proposed code of conduct during Thursday’s meeting. Credit: Screen Capture: TVSA livestream

San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg and his City Council colleagues could see their salaries more than double next year — if a commission’s recommendations get approval both from voters and council itself.

During Monday’s council meeting, the city’s Charter Review Commission subcommittee on council pay and compensation, led by Trinity University Chief of Staff Luisa Casso, unveiled recommendations for a substantial bump in pay for city elected officials.

The subcommittee recommended that council members pay jump from $45,722 to as high as $125,000 — a 173% increase. Meanwhile, the mayor would get a $80,000 raise, bringing the position’s total compensation to $140,000.

Although the exact salary has yet to be determined, the proposed pay raises are based on the median base pay of city directors, including department heads, according to a presentation.

Even so, it would be up to City Council to decide in a vote whether to put the proposed pay raises up to voters on the Nov. 5 ballot. Not all council members were on board.

“I think we should look at the average family income in the city of San Antonio, which right now is around $60,000 a year, and that should be what council members make,” District 9’s John Courage, who’s also a mayoral candidate, said during Monday’s session, according to the San Antonio Report.

District 2’s Jalen McKee-Rodriguez appears to agree, writing in a Feb. 1 memo to the commission that the salary should be equal to San Antonio’s median household income for four people — which is about $88,000, according to the Census Bureau.

The Charter Review Commission has until May to finalize its proposal.

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This article appears in Feb 21 – Mar 5, 2024.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...