State Rep. Faulkner discusses special session

The Alabama State Legislature enters a second special session on Tuesday, Sept. 8. Rep. David Faulkner, who represents Mountain Brook, Homewood and Hoover, will introduce a bill regarding city council pay raises during the special session.

City Manager Sam Gaston said state law prevents city councils from raising their own salary; any pay increase can only be approved for the next council. Mountain Brook City Council, however, also does not receive a salary.

“Of course, our mayor and city council members aren’t paid,” Gaston said, noting a policy that has been in place since the city’s 1942 incorporation.

Faulkner said he does not believe the cities in his district would pose a problem, but he is surprised the law was not already on the books.

“None of the cities that I represent have an issue,” Faulkner said. “These cities would never do what the Birmingham City Council did. We need a state law that makes this clear for the entire state that no form of government should be able to give themselves a pay raise with tax payer’s money without giving proper notice.”

Birmingham City Council’s raise, from an annual salary of $15,000 to $50,000, will be effective in 2017.

Faulkner said the proposed bill will require city councils to give 30 days of notice to the public before approving a pay raise. State law prevents councils from giving themselves a pay raise, and all pay increases will not be applied until the next council. Hoover City Council follows this statute.

Faulkner said he believes his bill will receive broad, bipartisan support.

Along with Faulkner’s proposed bill, the legislature will also consider the state budget during its second special session. The budget must be passed to prevent a government shutdown in the new fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1.

“I’m cautiously optimistic that we can get a budget done that will not take money from education and will meet the revenue needs we have in the general fund and will be a workable budget, one that we can all get behind,” Faulkner said.