FLOWERY BRANCH – The mayor and members of the city council in Flowery Branch will be receiving a pay increase January 1, 2022: an increase of fifty-percent for members of the city council and an increase of twenty-five percent for the mayor.
Now a fifty-percent pay raise might sound generous, but when it’s the first one you’ve had in 26-years it’s not really that much.
According to data released by the City of Flowery Branch, 1995 was the last time the stipend provided for elected city leaders was increased. At that time it was decided the mayor would be paid $600 per month and the members of the city council would receive $400 per month.
Councilman Joe Anglin, who also serves as Mayor Pro Tem, said, “Obviously Flowery Branch is a much different city than it was in 1995.”
Those numbers will increase to $750 per month for the mayor and $600 per month for city council members. The new pay scale is timed to take effect with the swearing-in of a new city council in early January.
By comparison, according to the information included in the public agenda with the ordinance and provided by the city, neighboring municipality Oakwood pays its mayor $1200 per month and its city council members $900 per month.
That data also showed that Flowery Branch’s population of 7073 is most closely matched by the City of Auburn’s population at 7603. The mayor of that city which straddles the Barrow/Gwinnett County line is paid $1500 per month.
Flowery Branch is facing unprecedented growth and expansion and that means longer meetings and more legwork for council members as rezoning and annexations are constantly being brought before the city council.
Significantly in that regard, Flowery Branch doesn’t have the advantage of a separate panel or board that considers annexations, rezonings and variances before they reach the city council, so that means city council members have to do much of that work themselves.
The Gainesville City Council has the Gainesville Planning and Appeals Board to pre-evaluate and investigate property issues and make recommendations, while the Hall County Commission has the Hall County Planning Commission to do the same.
Councilwoman Amy Farah said, “Driving out to a site, meeting with the developer prior to…we have to call each other and talk to each other and rely upon each other and find out what information do you have that I don’t have…so we have to go at it from multiple angles.”
