BY DANIEL SCHMIDT
FOR THE OBSERVER
AUBURN — Future Auburn city councilors will now receive significantly higher salaries than current members after the Auburn City Council on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a sweeping pay increase just two weeks after initially proposing it.
The council voted 6-1 in favor of the measure, with Ward 2 Council Member Kelley Griswold casting the lone ‘no’ vote. Ward 8 Council Member Tommy Dawson, who also opposed the measure during the council’s July 8 meeting, was not in attendance. It will be the first time Auburn city councilors have received a pay increase since 2006.
The proposal, which was first introduced at the council’s July 8 meeting, will more than double councilors’ pay from $7,200 per year to $15,000 per year, and the Mayor Pro Tempore’s pay from $7,200 per year to $18,000 per year. Those figures represent 108% and 150% increases, respectively.
In comparison, city councilors and mayor pro tems in Alabama’s 10 largest cities currently earn $17,122 and $24,240 per year on average, respectively, while Opelika city councilors earn over $13,000 per year. Those figures come from a report presented by Ward 6 Council Member Bob Parsons during the July 8 meeting.
However, current council members are not guaranteed a raise as those increases will not go into effect until Nov. 1, 2026, after newly elected members are seated following the Aug. 25, 2026, municipal elections.
The decision has been years in the making after past Auburn city councils voted down pay increase proposals, and despite the city rapidly growing from just over 50,000 residents in 2006 to an estimated 85,000-plus residents today.
With that population increase and an expressed desire for more diverse city council candidates moving forward, some meeting attendees proposed making service on the Auburn City Council a full-time job.
Ward 5 Council Member Sonny Moreman dismissed those calls and later said that many of his colleagues reluctantly brought up the pay increase due to a general discomfort over discussing it. He added that the demands of running a growing city also require an increasing amount of time away from councilors’ personal lives.
“Several of our members are sacrificing at a very high level by giving up time with their children and by giving up time away from their full-time job, and I think this might be meaningful for that portion of our group. So I support it on that level for those reasons,” Moreman said. “I think the motivation is sound, and I don’t think the pay increase proposal is too far out of line.”
Despite a clear consensus in favor of increasing future councilors’ pay, Griswold stood his ground and maintained his opposition to the proposal.
“I think there are some folks who desire full-time council members, [and] I think there might be some ulterior motives in there, I’m not sure. But as [Dawson] and I both said during the committee of the whole the last time around, neither of us supports a raise. We both think that this is a public service,” Griswold said. “I do not want someone representing me who is motivated by money. I want people up here who are motivated by the desire to serve the city of Auburn.”
By quickly approving the pay increase, the council ensured compliance with Alabama law, which dictates city council must approve any changes to compensation at least six months before the date of the next municipal election.
In other news, the council addressed several other items of business:
- The council approved retail beer and retail table wine licenses for Beignets and Brew, which is located at 147 N. College St.
- The council approved a retail beer license for Tandoori Flame Pizza, which is located at 196 N. Donahue Drive.
- The council approved the restructuring of Dorothy Conway’s housing rehabilitation loan.
- The council accepted public sanitary sewer easements from the Alabama Alpha Mu Fraternal Association. Those easements are located at 550 W. Magnolia Ave.
- The council accepted various public drainage and utility easements from Cleveland Brothers. Those easements are located at 2625 Hamilton Road.
- The council appointed James Brady and John Whitworth to the Greenspace Advisory Board. Their terms begin on Aug. 8, 2025, and end on Aug. 7, 2029.
- The council appointed Vanessa Echols and Jenifer Lovvorn to the Planning Commission. Their unexpired terms begin immediately and end on July 31, 2026, and July 31, 2028.
- The council approved a commercial and entertainment conditional use for Grand Junction Event Space. That venue, which will be part of a mixed-use development, is located at 1027 E. Glenn Ave.
- The council approved a performance residential development for Interlude Auburn. That 243-unit development will be located at 1397 N. Dean Road.
- The council approved the Community Development Block Grant 2025-2029 Consolidated Plan and the 2025 Annual Action Plan.
- The council approved a $294,000 tax abatement for Korea Fuel Tech America. The company plans to hire 17 new employees over the next two years and invest $4 million.
