Vice Mayor Trice requests that staff make certain that more regular reviews of pay level take place
Thanks to a May 19 vote of the Sarasota City Commission, the Special Magistrates who handle Code Compliance hearings will get a rase for the first time in 25 years.
The fee will go up from $125 an hour to $200 an hour as of June 1.
The Agenda Request Form for the item explained, “Section 2-306(c)(3) of the City Code provides that the City’s Code Compliance special magistrate ‘shall not be a City employee, but may be compensated at a rate established by resolution of the City Commission based upon the recommendation of the City Manager and the City Attorney.’ It has come to the attention of staff that the current special magistrate has served since 1999 and has been compensated at an hourly rate of $125 per hour for the past 25 years without an increase,” the form, added. “This has been brought to the attention of the City Manager and the City Attorney, who recommend that the special magistrate’s hourly rate of compensation should be increased to $200 per hour as provided in proposed Resolution 25R-3328.”
The resolution itself said that a state law that went into effect on Oct. 1, 1989 permits “municipalities to adopt an alternative code enforcement system to give code enforcement special masters the authority to hold hearings and assess fines against violators of municipal codes …”
Further, the resolution noted, “The appointment of the special magistrate (and alternates) is made by the City Commission on the basis of experience or interest in the fields of zoning, building control, and code compliance. The City Auditor and Clerk is responsible for the processing of all applications for the position of special magistrate.”
The Agenda Request Form also pointed out, “In spite of the Code requirement that the rate of compensation be established by resolution of the City Commission, which has been in effect since 1990, it does not appear that there is an existing resolution that sets the magistrate’s current hourly rate.”
Finally, the form said, “The Special Magistrate conducts hearings weekly and hears approximately 20-30 cases at each hearing.”
Before the vote during the board’s May 19 regular meeting, Vice Mayor Debbie Trice sought to ensure that the Special Magistrates would not have to endure such a long wait again for appropriate compensation.
She pulled the item from the commission’s Consent Agenda No. 2 to express her concern.
Trice asked whether “some mechanism” could be established, perhaps in the proposed resolution on the agenda, “to require periodic review of the rate.”
“We definitely could add that in,” City Attorney Joe Polzak responded. “That’s understandable logic,” he added. However, Polzak continued, “We can just operationalize it into our practices …”
“I don’t have a problem,” City Auditor and Clerk Shayla Griggs said, with staff’s coming up with a plan to review the rate “on a more regular basis.” Yet, she told the commissioners, she was not certain that the resolution needed to be revised.
“Whatever is more effective,” Trice replied.
Then, at Griggs’ request, Diane Kennedy, manager of the city’s Code Compliance Division, addressed the commissioners.
“If we need to build [such a review] into our processes,” Kennedy said, “we’re happy to do that. We don’t want to wait 25 years,” she added, for another increase in pay for the Special Magistrate.
Polzak did note, as well, that staff obtained information from other cities about what they pay their Special Magistrates. For example, he said, North Port’s rate is about $225 an hour; the City of Venice pays $235 an hour.
The resolution before the commission that day, Polzak continued, “is just starting to catch up with what the market rate is in Southwest Florida.”
“So it is definitely not overpaying?” Trice asked.
“No,” Polzak replied.
Griggs reiterated her suggestion that staff could make it a practice to review the pay level on a routine basis, instead of amending the proposed resolution.
Trice replied that that was fine, “as long as that becomes your procedure now.”
Commissioner Kathy Kelley Ohlrich did ask Kennedy about the rationale for the pay boost now instead of waiting to implement it as part of the development of the city’s budget for the 2026 fiscal year, which will begin on Oct. 1.
Kennedy explained that she had been working with the City Attorney’s Office, as the Special Magistrate also handles the red-light camera ticket cases and those regarding the School Speed Zone Safety Program, which was implemented in January. (Warnings were issued for the first 30 days that the latter program was in effect.)
The Special Magistrate gets paid $200 an hour for those two types of hearings, Kennedy indicated, so it seemed appropriate to increase the pay “across the board.”
Polzak added that since the Special Magistrate’s pay had been “lagging so far behind, we thought it important to [seek the pay raise] right away.”
“Thank you,” Ohlrich told him.
Trice ended up making the motion to approve the resolution, and Ohlrich seconded it. The motion passed 5-0.