Indianapolis officials could receive pay raises, mayor says don’t include him

Indianapolis City-County Councilors are considering a proposal to increase pay for several positions, including the Mayor’s office.

The current salary for the Mayor of Indianapolis is $95,000. That was set in 2002 -- the last time the mayor position had a pay raise.  Bart Peterson was mayor at that time.

Under the new proposal, the City-County Council would bump the pay to  $125,000.

But not everyone’s on board, including Mayor Joe Hogsett.

In a media statement Hogsett said that his position has and remains to forgo any pay raises while serving as mayor.

“I want to make it abundantly clear: if a proposal for salary increases for other elected officials reaches my desk with a pay raise for the Office of the Mayor included in that proposal, I will veto it,” said Hogsett in the statement.

The proposal comes at a time when the Hogsett administration is under fire for mishandling sexual harassment allegations against the mayor’s former chief of staff.

At a council administration and finance committee meeting this week the proposal for raises was tabled. It is unclear if the measure will be amended to remove the pay increase for the mayor. 

Other executive positions that are being considered for raises include the county assessor, auditor, recorder and clerk. Those salaries would be bumped to $92,000 annually in a move that would create more pay equity across the positions.

Members of the council approved a pay raise for themselves in 2022.  Their salary was increased from about $11,000 to $31,000 a year.

Contact WFYI Policy Reporter Samantha Horton at shorton@wfyi.org.