Elected leaders in Zachary earn less money than their counterparts in similarly sized municipalities 鈥 and the clock is ticking for an ordinance to be passed upping salaries for members of the City Council, mayor and police chief.
Mayor David McDavid, who recently had his staff complete a salary comparison study, brought the issue up at the April 9 council meeting.
He along with Police Chief Darryl Lawrence have spoken previously about the need to update Zachary鈥檚 salaries. McDavid and Lawrence 鈥 both of whom spent decades working at the Zachary Police Department and ascending its pay scale 鈥 took a pay cut when they were elected to their current jobs.
鈥淭he council, mayor and chief of police are lower than every municipality in the area, including Baker,鈥 McDavid said. 鈥淎nd the council salaries are well below some of these smaller municipalities within the area or other parishes.鈥
鈥淭his needs to be fixed,鈥 he added.
Salaries for Zachary鈥檚 elected officials were last updated in 2018. They must be set by ordinance, according to the city鈥檚 home rule charter, which also prohibits salary changes in the last year of an election cycle.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e going to make a change, now is the time to think about it,鈥 City Attorney John Hopewell told council members.
The council would have to take a vote by December 2025. Any potential raises wouldn鈥檛 take effect until January 2027, the first year of the next term.
McDavid and his staff compared Zachary鈥檚 salaries to those in West Monroe, Sulphur, Baker, Gonzales and Youngsville. The mayors and police chiefs of those cities all make more money than McDavid, who earns $88,890, and Lawrence, whose salary is $80,580 鈥 part of which comes from a state supplemental pay program for law enforcement officers.
It鈥檚 worth noting that both have received cost-of-living increases since entering office in January 2023. Per the current salary ordinance, McDavid started at $85,000 and Lawrence at $69,000.
Gonzales, which has fewer residents than Zachary, pays its mayor more than $150,000 鈥 the highest salary listed on McDavid鈥檚 comparison chart. That city also has the highest-paid police chief included in the comparison at $136,822.
Annual compensation for council members in Zachary is $10,4141 for first-term members and $11,164 for those in their second term. That鈥檚 not far off from the $12,000 paid each year to those serving on the councils in West Monroe and Gonzales.
But Sulphur pays council members just $4,200 a year, and Baker covers some additional expenses for council members that amounts to a total of $15,000 in compensation annually. In Youngsville, council pay is just under $15,000 for most members, with the mayor pro tempore earning $16,320.
The analysis also looked at pay for chief administrative officers. The $80,000 salary for Zachary鈥檚 CAO, Brandie Triche, is on par with West Monroe and Baker but considerably lower than the $121,389 offered by Gonzales.
Some rules related to changing city officials鈥 salaries may eventually change. The home rule charter is currently being revised by a commission, and the proposed updates must be presented to voters in an election.
Hopewell clarified the role of the commission and the document amid questions at the council meeting.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not the commission鈥檚 job to set salaries,鈥 he said. 鈥淎ll the commission鈥檚 job with you is to create the framework within which salaries can be adjusted by ordinance so that you don鈥檛 have to have an election of the people to go up or go down.鈥
The new charter, if adopted, would still require an ordinance to set salaries.
鈥淭he ordinal part of it is not going to change,鈥 he said.
