Analysis of voter data shows that the 2024 ballot referendum to increase city commissioner salaries passed with overwhelming support from southside voters.
The city charter amendment, which proposed to raise the salaries of a city commissioner from $48,000 to $96,000 avoided mentioning those dollar figures in the ballot language. Instead, the language asked, “Shall the Charter of the City of Tallahassee be amended to provide that members of the City Commission be paid an annual salary equal to the annual salary set by state law for members of the Board of County Commissioners of Leon County, Florida?”
The charter amendment passed with 56.0% of the vote.
Voting tallies show that there was a significant geographic divide between the voters who supported the amendment. The table below shows that voters from District 1 (Southside) and District 2 (FUS, TSC, west Tennessee Street) voted 67.4%, and 69.7% for the pay raise.
In contrast, 45.0% of voters in District 4 (NE Tallahassee, Killearn, Summerbrooke) supported the charter amendment.
In District 3 (Waverly, Betton) 51.6% of the voters supported the pay raise, while in District 5 (Eastside, Southwood) 50.7% supported the raise.
This is absolutely ridiculous and it should be illegal to give YOURSELF a pay raise. I applaud everyone who voted against giving these people a two fold salary increase!!!! Someone should find something in the Charter or wherever, and have this repealed. I am sure most people in Tallahassee don't even come close to making even $48,000 thousand dollars a year
That's shameful! We recently had the NO KINGS parade. I encourage everyone to protest this "raise" which should have been completely illegal in the first place.
If PRR really thinks that... it is a moron. I paid more in property taxes this year, than that stupid redneck has paid in all its wretched years on this rock. So, go ahead and write something else that is as galactically stupid as "Southsider's don't pay taxes". You idiot.
All they did was use the same style word play to get the CSC Voted in.
Waste or not, the voters, not the commissioners, made the decision to pay city commissioners the same as county commissioners. There are some valid reasons for doing so, not the least of which is that the city commission is the most populous part of the county, has a far larger budget than the county, and operates a large utility. And the support seems to me to be widespread, not just southside support. Four of the five districts supported the proposal. And to suggest that District 4 is the only one of the five districts that pays taxes is self-serving and more than misleading.
Mr. Stewart, you could have added the names of the commissioners beside each district.
City commissioners are not elected by district. They are all elected at-large. They all represent "one district".
The Southside doesn’t pay any taxes. Why do we let people that don’t contribute dictate how to spend other’s money?
The only people with any sense as a group were in District 4. The majority of us voted against that idiotic waste of our money. I'd wager that District 4 voted against the Children's Services tax, too. The overwhelming support for wasting taxes comes from the districts who pay the smallest proportion of taxes. Maybe district 4 should form its own city and secede from the City.
Steve - you live in District 4, I'd vote for you for Mayor of the new city.
Those crooks double their own salaries while begrudging others a 5% raise. If that is truly how south siders feel, they must all be dumber than dirt.
I say that as a proud Rickards Redskin...