Orange County mayor, commissioners may see 25% pay increase

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County’s mayor and board of commissioners may see a nearly 25 percent pay increase this fall.

Commissioners voted earlier this week to move forward with discussions for the pay raise.

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Commissioners were given three options this week on how much they would increase their salaries along with Mayor Jerry Demings’ salary.

Everyone except Demings and one other commissioner voted to bump their pay to the highest salary option the county provided.

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Demings was one of two “no” votes on a plan to increase his salary by roughly $45,000. Demings currently makes nearly $183,000, and the increase would bring his salary up to a total of $227,812 a year.

That’s less than Jacksonville’s Mayor Donna Deegan, who makes $230,000 a year, and less than Orlando’s Mayor Buddy Dyer, who makes $233,000.

But the increase would put Demings’ salary higher than what Miami-Dade’s mayor earns, even though Miami-Dade has 1.3 million more residents.

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Commissioners would get a nearly $23,000 pay bump going from $91,000 to more than $113,000.

District 5 commissioner Emily Bonilla also voted against the proposal.

“I felt like it was wrong,” Bonilla said.

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Bonilla originally called for the county to do a market analysis on the commissioners’ salaries last summer. But she said she’s against the change after money wasn’t approved for her office’s budget.

“Now we’re being asked to raise our salaries to benefit our own pocket,” she said.

The newest commissioner, District 6′s Michael Scott, was the first of the commissioners to vote to move forward with the salary proposal.

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He said he believes the proposed salaries are fair.

“Commissioners are never off, right? We don’t accrue vacation time. We are never not working,” he said.

This is the first time the county has done a market analysis on the mayor and commissioners’ salaries in 25 years.

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According to the county’s market analysis, the proposed salary would align with counties like Hillsborough, Palm Beach, and Broward.

Commissioners are set to discuss salaries again in September during a public hearing.

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