Present for the Aug. 18 Village Council meeting were, from left, Trish Gustafson, Brian Housh, Carmen Brown, Gavin DeVore Leonard, Kevin Stokes and Village Manager Johnnie Burns. (Video still)
Village Council members consider stipend increase
- Published: August 26, 2025
On Monday, Aug. 18, Village Council members reconvened after their annual summer break for a regular meeting that included a discussion on increasing the stipend for Council members.
Though no vote was taken, Council will deliberate at a forthcoming meeting on a proposal to increase members’ stipends to $12,000 a year.
Under present circumstances, Council members are slated to receive an annual stipend of $8,800 — up from the annual $7,200 that Council approved in 2013, which has since grown incrementally over the years to be eligible for state retirement funds.
Council member Brian Housh said the proposal that will soon formally come before Council is an effort to further incentivize villagers to run for office — particularly individuals from diverse and economically different backgrounds, and not just “the wealthy and the retired,” he said.
“This isn’t about a bump in the pennies an hour we get,” Housh said. “It’s about trying to encourage and support people to run for office.”
Though the particulars of the future legislation haven’t been ironed out, Council members agreed that the increase in the stipend shouldn’t benefit those sitting members voting on the matter; the proposed $1,000-per-month stipend would take effect for the newly elected Council members following the Nov. 4 general election, and then those elected in subsequent elections.
That means, with three seats potentially being vacated — those of Council members Trish Gustafson and Brian Housh (who is running for reelection), as well as Council President Kevin Stokes — the three candidates elected to their seats would be the first to receive the new stipend. Council members Carmen Brown and Gavin DeVore Leonard would retain their existing stipends, and theirs would increase if they were to be reelected in the 2027 election, should they run.
Council last voted for a pay raise in 2013, when the Council stipend went from $4,000 per year to $7,200 a year. Before that, in 2009, it went from $2,100 to $4,000 per year.
In comparison to Council, Miami Township Trustees make $14,000 per year — a salary determined by the township’s operating budget, which is currently around $2 million annually, according to information provided to the News by Trustee Marilan Moir.
Conversely, Yellow Springs Board of Education members are paid per meeting — $125 per meeting — with a cap of $3,000 per year.
Should Council approve the annual stipend hike from the previously anticipated rate for 2026 of $8,800 to $12,000, and a future elected, five-person Council benefit from that increase, the total additional cost would be $16,000 annually, to be taken out of the Village’s General Fund. In budgeting for 2025 last fall, the General Fund was set at $5.2 million.
Council member Brown noted Monday that the proposed stipend hike will provide a little more money to future Council members who, at present, take home just barely enough to be eligible for retirement benefits from the Ohio Public Employee Retirement Fund. The increase, she said, would help future Council members access health insurance services through the state fund.
Council members were generally in support of the proposal, and most acknowledged that the increase would be relatively nominal.
“I’ve never had any indication that anybody is doing this or any other reason than caring about public service,” DeVore Leonard said, referring to serving on Council.
Council President Stokes said that, while he had previously sought to instigate this discussion at an earlier date, he questioned the “look” of the future decision, particularly as the local electorate will be voting this November on four levies, which may increase the cost of living in Yellow Springs, and may spur misgivings among villagers about giving Council members more money.
“So, is it a good look right at this time to be increasing our stipends when we’re asking for these renewal levies in addition to the library levy?” Stokes mused.
Council members will vote on the proposed stipend hike at a future meeting.
Village seeks grant for bathrooms
Council unanimously approved a resolution to authorize Village Manager Johnnie Burns to apply for grant money from the Greene County Board of Commissioners — a “community investment grant” that Burns said, if awarded to the Village, would fund the construction of more permanent public bathrooms in downtown Yellow Springs.
At present, the only public bathrooms in the central business district are those at the Train Station and the portable toilets that were placed on Short Street earlier this summer when the Village designated the street as a pedestrian-only community space.
Burns previously stated that Short Street would remain closed to vehicles through the Fall Street Fair — set for Saturday, Oct. 11 — but alluded Monday to upcoming Village deliberations on closing the road permanently, and said the space would be a suitable location for additional permanent public bathrooms.
“It already has the infrastructure for that purpose,” Burns told Council.
According to him, the grant-funded bathrooms would be modeled after those that Glen Helen built in their new public parking lot off State Route 343 last year; Burns said that the new toilets cost the Glen approximately $250,000. He added that the costs of bathrooms on Short Street may be closer to $180,000 or $190,000.
Housh spoke favorably of the grant and suggested that additional bathrooms in downtown Yellow Springs wouldn’t just benefit the local community, but “the entire county and region.”
He also pointed out with apparent dismay that community improvement grants are funded by sales taxes — “of which Yellow Springs generates a lot; I’m sure we’re the highest in the county per capita,” he said — and that that money goes to the state, and then the county to allocate and use those funds.
“But I think it’s great we’re applying for this,” Housh said.
The next Village Council meeting will be Tuesday, Sept. 2 at 6 p.m..
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the annual stipend of YS Board of Education members; they earn up to $3,000 per year.
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