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Before she was sworn into office on Monday, Westhampton Beach Village Mayor Maria Moore had already begun a push to double her salary—a move that would put her first year’s pay on par with her predecessor’s starting salary.
Last week, Ms. Moore began exploring options for increasing her annual salary from $12,562 to $25,000, which would return the salary back to what it was before former Mayor Conrad Teller voluntarily took a pay cut in 2010.
But because the mayor’s salary has already been set in the $9.76 million budget for 2014-15, and since Mr. Teller’s cut was ratified by a Village Board resolution, reversing it could prove to be arduous from a legal perspective.
“We’re looking into what has to be done,” Ms. Moore said after Monday night’s Village Board meeting. “The salary was what Mayor Teller had, and the mayor before him, Mayor [Robert] Strebel. Mayor Teller volunteered to take less for personal reasons.
“I believe that the salary is what it was before,” she continued. “It was never changed—he just voluntarily accepted less.”
Westhampton Beach Village Clerk Elizabeth Lindtvit said once the budget is set and approved, it cannot be changed until the next budget cycle.
Ms. Moore maintains that the mayor’s salary never actually changed, but rather Mr. Teller simply elected not to take the full amount. That opinion runs counter to the past three village budgets, each of which is available online. Those spending plans state plainly that the mayor’s salary has remained at or below $12,562 since the 2011-12 budget. In 2010-11, the mayor was paid $12,568.94 and, in 2009-10, he collected $24,930.71.
Each of the four Village Board members—Hank Tucker, Patricia DiBenedetto, Ralph Urban and Charlie Palmer—are set to receive salaries of $5,710 this fiscal year, which began on July 1. Elected officials in the village receive health and dental benefits while in office, Ms. Lindtvit said, and those who serve for 10 years or more can keep those benefits for life.
Ms. Lindtvit said Ms. Moore has been looking into changing her salary since early last week. The clerk added that if the mayor is able to reinstate the old salary, it likely wouldn’t go into effect until next month.
Westhampton Beach Village Attorney Richard Haefeli said he was unaware of the new mayor’s push to raise her salary when questioned about it this week. “I haven’t heard anything about that, so I have no comment at this time,” he said.
Mr. Teller, meanwhile, said it is his understanding that the budget passed earlier this spring, which was approved by the entire board, cannot be altered now that it has been signed into law. He also pointed out that he voluntarily cut his salary in 2010 because the board was forced to make salary cuts to balance the budget, and he thought it would only be fair to cut his own as well.
“I did it because I was negotiating and cutting salaries, so I figured I might as well start by cutting my own,” he said. “But I guess I’m just stupid that way.”
Mr. Teller added that his former opponent should have let people know that she would seek a higher salary during the campaign.
“She should have said that when she was running for office,” he said. “That’s the way I look at it. When you’re running on transparency of office, you should say that you plan on increasing your own salary.”
Kyle Campbell on Jul 9, 2014