Parkersburg City Council wanted to give the city's next mayor a 39% raise. Then the people who pay for it showed up.
On Tuesday, Oct. 13, the council tabled an ordinance that would lift the mayor's salary from $90,000 to $125,000 a year. The vote to table was 6-3. (News and Sentinel)
That is a win for fiscal restraint, and it happened because ordinary residents took the time to speak up.
The Facts
The ordinance was sponsored by Councilmen Rob Moore and Roger Brown and Councilwoman Sharon Kuhl. It would take effect Jan. 2, 2029, so it would not apply to Mayor Tom Joyce, who is term-limited. (WTAP)
Kuhl said $125,000 is the average pay in West Virginia's largest strong-mayor cities. (WTAP) She also argued that state law bars raising an official's pay mid-term, so acting now keeps the issue separate from whoever runs. (News and Sentinel)
Twenty people signed up to speak, and many spoke against the raise. (WTAP) The council extended the public forum past its 30-minute limit. Kuhl herself moved to table. Councilmen Roger Brown and Mike Reynolds and Council President Andrew Borkowski voted no. (News and Sentinel)
This is not the first try. In November 2024, a raise to $110,000 died for lack of a second. A smaller $97,000 version was pulled the next month. (News and Sentinel) (News and Sentinel)
Why Residents Pushed Back
Speakers cited Census Bureau figures: a median household income of $49,025 and per capita income of $30,355 in Parkersburg. (News and Sentinel)
Resident Mark Hardesty told the council, "You're proposing that the mayor be paid two-and-a-half times what the median household in this city has to survive on." (News and Sentinel)
Greg Sanders asked the sharpest question of the night: "Before you vote, ask yourself, are we making public service more attractive or just making the paycheck more attractive?" (News and Sentinel)
A City Hall That Keeps Asking Residents for More
The raise is for the office, not for Joyce. But it was proposed by a city government that has spent the last few years asking residents to pay more.
- Trash fees: raised from $16 to $18 a month in 2023, the first increase since 2009. (News and Sentinel) Then raised again from $18 to $22 in 2025, an increase built into the budget Joyce proposed. Council passed it 7-0. (News and Sentinel) (News and Sentinel)
- Sewer rates: up 18.47% over four years, approved 7-0 in 2025. A typical monthly bill goes from $40.39 to $47.85. (News and Sentinel)
- Borrowing: in 2023, Joyce said he did not want the city to take on debt for a new recreation center. (News and Sentinel) In 2024, the council approved up to $15 million in bonds for the rec center and a new fire station. (WTAP)
- Pool fees: raised in 2026 for the first time since 2019. Defending the increase, Joyce asked, "Just because we have other priorities ... can't we have nice things?" (News and Sentinel)
When the bills keep going up for families, a 39% raise for the person at the top of City Hall sends exactly the wrong message.
The Liberty Case
Every dollar a city spends comes from someone who earned it. Before the government raises its own pay, it owes taxpayers proof that the raise is needed.
The "we need to pay more to attract good candidates" argument deserves a hard look. Public office is supposed to be service, not a career ladder. A $90,000 salary is already far above what the typical Parkersburg household brings in, by the residents' own numbers.
After the meeting, Kuhl said, "I'm for the pay raise. But I want to have my information to validate it." (News and Sentinel) That suggests the homework was not done before the ordinance was filed.
Credit where it is due — the council listened and hit pause. Residents showed the same instinct the same night when council voted 5-4 to require usage reports on the city's pavilion every six months. As resident Ray Vannoy put it, "It's my money; you're supposed to give me the operating cost if I ask for it." (News and Sentinel)
The Bottom Line
The raise is tabled, not dead, and no date has been set for it to return. When it does come back, the question will be the same one Greg Sanders asked: Is this about public service, or the paycheck?
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