Bloomington City Clerk Nicole Bolden at a Monday city council budget hearing.
(Courtesy of Community Access Television Services (CATS))
Bloomington City Clerk Nicole Bolden wants the city council to increase her salary as part of the 2024 budget.
Bolden asked that of the council at its first 2024 budget hearing Monday — but not as part of her department’s $420,436 request, which does not include her desired salary increase.
Bolden’s salary for 2023 is $64,773. She wants more — though she did not specify how much — than the 5% salary increase she'd be eligible for under the proposed budget. She said she wants hers to be closer to that of other department heads, and at least on par with that of Council Attorney Stephen Lucas.
Lucas said the council office budget proposal for 2024 reflects a roughly 10.6% increase to his salary, making it about $104,062.43 for 2024.
Since Bolden’s budget request did not include her desired raise, she asked that the council reject the request as presented. The council did so, with six “no” votes and three abstentions.
Indiana Code requires that a city’s legislative body fix the annual compensation of all elected city offices. Bolden said that, unlike other elected officials, she also serves as a department head.
“The duties and responsibilities in the office are most like those of the department heads, and it doesn’t deny the reality of the fact that a second-class city clerk adds another dimension to the role,” Bolden said.
Bolden is running unopposed for the office of Clerk.
In explaining her request, Bolden said her office attends longer and more frequent meetings and provides more services than comparable cities in Indiana.
For example, the Bloomington City Council has had more than 66 hours of regular session meetings so far this year, according to Bolden. The Anderson City Council, by comparison, has had 13 hours of regular session meetings during that same period, she said.
“The difference in meeting minutes also corresponds to much more detailed and lengthy production from our office,” Bolden told the council. “You guys do a lot of work, and that means that we do, too.”
The city clerk’s office serves as the council’s official record keeper, officiates marriages, certifies documents and deeds, prepares and arranges public notices, hears and adjudicates parking ticket appeals and updates and maintains the city code, among other tasks.
Bolden also emphasized her Indiana accredited municipal clerk certification and her office’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.
Bolden said she also considered her staff’s pay when presenting her request.
“Clerk staff, like many city employees, are paid below market rate — but even more than that, they’re paid less than some of their duty peers in this organization,” Bolden said. “They’re pushing at the ceiling that is caused by my low salary.”
During the public comment section following Bolden’s presentation, Madalyn Sade-Bartl, the clerk-treasurer of the Town of Churubusco, spoke in support of Bolden’s request.
“She is being grossly underpaid compared to other department heads employed within the city,” Sade-Bartl said.
She added that Bolden should receive a merit pay increase because of her certifications.
Elected officials’ salaries can be increased, but not lowered, after the first of the year, according to Sade-Bartl.
David Johns, the executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition, also expressed support for raising Bolden’s salary in a letter to the mayor’s office and city council.
“The position has grown and changed over several years,” Johns wrote. “It is with this growth and change in mind that I implore you to review and adjust the compensation associated with the City Clerk's position within the upcoming budget cycle. Ensuring that the City Clerk is more equitably compensated for their labor will ensure that everyone in the city of Bloomington continues to thrive.”
Johns said that aligning Bolden’s salary with that of the council attorney would be a fair compromise.
