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An ordinance of the County of Allegheny, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, directing that a referendum question regarding the amendment of Article III, §7(a) of the Home Rule Charter of Allegheny County, which establishes a per-meeting stipend pay structure for members of Council, be placed on the November 7, 2023 General Election ballot.
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Whereas, Article III, §7(a) of the Home Rule Charter of Allegheny County establishes that “County Council Members shall not receive a salary but may receive per-meeting stipends not to exceed in the aggregate $9,000 annually per member. The aggregate stipend may be increased by up to five percent every five years.”; and
Whereas, pursuant to the terms of Article III, §7(a), the current maximum annual per-meeting stipend total has been adjusted from the original $9,000 to $10,939 as of 2023;
Whereas, the prohibition on receiving a regular salary is unique to County Council members, and does not apply to any other elected official governed by the terms of the Home Rule Charter; and
Whereas, in the decades since the Charter was drafted, the position of County Council member has become progressively more time-intensive, and now frequently requires the elected Council members’ attention to matters outside of the Council’s regular meetings; and
Whereas, it is the judgment of Council that imposing more stringent salary restrictions upon members of Council serves no meaningful purpose, insofar as the pay structure for members of Council is entirely unrelated to the function or operations of County government; and
Whereas, imposing a unique and arbitrarily restrictive pay structure upon Council members has significant potential to function as a disincentive for qualified individuals to seek the office; and
Whereas, as part of its 2016 report, the Allegheny County Government Review Commission expressly recommended that the pay of Council members be altered from a per-meeting stipend to a regular salary;
The Counci...
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