Hilton Head mayor and town council give themselves pay raises. What are their salaries?
The Hilton Head Island mayor and town council members gave themselves salary increases for the first time in 12 years, costing taxpayers $23,145 more per fiscal year.
The council increased their salaries by 15%, 11 percentage points more than the 4% merit increase town employees are eligible for in 2025 as part of their benefits package. However, town employees have been eligible for performance-based salary increases in previous years, unlike the town council.
The new budget also shifts from the town reimbursing town council members $50 per council-related meeting as an “attendance fee” to monthly stipends. Previously salaries were broken into base pay and attendance fees with a cap on “maximum pay.” The $50 attendance fee didn’t count for regularly scheduled town council meetings. The town made the transition for “savings of staff reporting and processing efficiencies,” according to the budget.
Effective after the November election, the town is set to pay each of the six council members $23,345 per year, up $3,045 from their maximum pay of $20,300. Mayor Alan Perry’s salary is $37,375 annually, up $4,875 from his maximum pay of $32,500. In June, the council approved the salary increases with the town’s $166.94 million 2025 budget.
The raises were partially to account for inflation, according to the budget. Even so, the number didn’t match up with inflation rates. According to the consumer index price calculator, the council members’ pay in 2012 would have the same spending power as $28,137, about $5,000 less than their new salaries.
In fiscal years 2023 and 2024 town employees have been eligible for up to a 4% performance‐based salary increase. In 2021 and 2022 this number was slightly less at 3% each year.
Compared to Bluffton, Beaufort and South Carolina
The Town of Hilton Head Island created a comparison chart showing that their council members earned a base salary of $12,800 in 2024 while the City of Beaufort and Town of Bluffton are close behind at $12k and $11k. Bluffton council members draw the lowest base salary of the eight South Carolina locations.
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The comparison didn’t include the $50 stipends the council received in attendance fees. Each city, town or county pays a base salary to its elected officials and several also add compensation benefits such as meeting attendance and vehicle stipends. For this reason, it is difficult to compare Hilton Head Island town council salaries with other South Carolina municipalities.
Across the state, city council base salaries vary from Columbia’s $13,350 to North Charleston’s $23,360.
This story was originally published July 25, 2024 at 11:36 AM.
