City’s Own Study Does Not Support Recent Raises for Assistant City Managers

City’s Own Study Does Not Support Recent Raises for Assistant City Managers

Tallahassee Reports has received a copy of the pay study that City Manager Fernandez used as support for the the recently reported executive level pay raises.View City’s “market rate study” here. Surprisingly, the numbers reported in the study do not support the majority of the pay raises. This report addresses only the Assistant City Manager […]

View Top 250 City of Tallahassee General Fund Salaries

View Top 250 City of Tallahassee General Fund Salaries

Listed below is a searchable and sortable list of the top 250 general fund salaries for the City of Tallahassee. There are approximately 1,050 city employees paid out of the general fund. The data includes the position description and the annual salary. The salaries are as of the December, 2015 and do not include the recent […]

New Information Contradicts City Manager Fernandez’s Defense of Double-Digit Raises

New Information Contradicts City Manager Fernandez’s Defense of Double-Digit Raises

Tallahassee Reports has learned that the substantial raises given by City Manager Rick Fernandez to executive staff has resulted in annual salaries that are significantly higher than salaries for the same position in comparable Florida cities. These findings contradict the assertion by City Manager Rick Fernandez that the substantial increases in salaries were justified based […]

Two Assistant City Managers Pull Down $49K and $46K in Raises

Two Assistant City Managers Pull Down $49K and $46K in Raises

Tallahassee Reports has learned that since January of this year two assistant city managers, who were promoted under newly appointed City Manager Rick Fernandez, have recently received substantial pay raises. Cynthia Barber, who was being paid $125,084 in January, is now making $174,999.99 as an assistant city manger. That is a $49,916 increase, which equals […]

Rocky Hanna Wins NEBA Debate, Superintendent Jackie Pons Second

Rocky Hanna Wins NEBA Debate, Superintendent Jackie Pons Second

In a forum for candidates running for Superintendent of Leon County Schools, held by the Network of Entrepreneurs and Business Advocates (NEBA), former Leon High School principal Rocky Hanna finished first in the straw poll. Hanna was followed by Superintendent Jackie Pons and former Leon County school board member Forrest Van Camp. Over 120 people […]

Leon County Proposed Budget Increases by $5.58 Million, Law Enforcement Gets $2.1 Million

Leon County Proposed Budget Increases by $5.58 Million, Law Enforcement Gets $2.1 Million

The Leon County Board of County Commissioners held a workshop on June 14, 2016 and County staff presented the fiscal year 2017 proposed budget. The staff reported that “the preliminary FY 2017 budget totals $246,254,510 which reflects a 3.2 percent increase from FY 2016. As a point of comparison, the recently passed State of Florida […]

Budget Hawks Support Chamber’s Proposal to Eliminate Business Tax

Budget Hawks Support Chamber’s Proposal to Eliminate Business Tax

Budget Hawks, one of the groups working to overturn the 13% property tax increase adopted by the CIty of Tallahassee last year, issued a press release urging city commissioners to grant a request from the Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce to eliminate the city business tax. Commercial real estate developer and founding Budget Hawk Russell Price […]

Commissioner Miller Asks City to Reconsider Vote Extending Bar Hours

Commissioner Miller Asks City to Reconsider Vote Extending Bar Hours

At Wednesday’s City Commission meeting, Commissioner Nancy Miller, who previously voted with Commissioner Curtis Richardson and Mayor Andrew Gillum to extend bar hours from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m., made a motion asking the Commission to reconsider that vote. The motion to reconsider the vote passed 4-1. Commissioner Curtis Richardson was the lone vote against […]

Lightsey Complaint Dismissed, Investigation Continues

Lightsey Complaint Dismissed, Investigation Continues

In a convoluted decision that is sure to keep the controversy surrounding the pension payments of former City Commissioner Debbie Lightsey alive, the City’s Independent Ethics Board dismissed a complaint filed by local businessman Erwin Jackson, but called for further investigation. The Ethics Officer, Julie Meadows-Keefe, recommended the compliant be dismissed “without investigation because it […]

Citizens’ Groups Roll Out Alternative Budget

Citizens’ Groups Roll Out Alternative Budget

On Monday night, the City of Tallahassee officially presented the FY2017 budget during a workshop at Walker-Ford Community Center. At the same time, ten miles away, three citizen driven budget groups held a meeting of their own in City Commission Chambers and presented the “Citizens’ Budget.” TR spent time at both meetings. Citizens’ Workshop in […]