Kyle city leaders are planning to introduce a renegotiated contract later this month for City Manager Scott Sellers several weeks after a previous proposed deal ignited a firestorm of controversy.
Kyle Mayor Todd Webster said the new deal, which will be an agenda item at the Jan. 17 city council meeting, is a “very simple” contract structured from city manager contracts in neighboring cities.
“Given the reaction of the other contract, we decided to try and take the path that the community would be most accepting of,” Webster said.
Sellers’ proposed contract, which is in draft form and will be an agenda item at the Jan. 17 city council meeting, calls for a three-year deal that runs until Dec. 31, 2019. During that time, Sellers would receive an annual base salary of $196,503.20, which would raise his current salary by approximately $15,000.
Webster said the figure was based off of a market analysis of city manager salaries in the area.
Sellers would also receive an annual salary adjustment that is the “same percentage increase budgeted” for non-sworn employees or sworn employees, depending on which amount is greater, according to the draft contract. The draft contract also calls for Sellers to be paid no less than the base salary except by mutual agreement of parties.
Webster said the city manager position had been previously excluded from cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) for salaries. Sellers’ current contract calls for a five percent annual performance based salary increase.
He added the city opted to maintain with COLA adjustments rather than make them automatic or performance based.
Any possible adjustments would be made “pursuant to lawful council resolutions” and with considerations to market compensations for city managers “in similar cities in the vicinity” of Kyle.
If the contract is approved, Sellers would receive the same benefits full-time employees in Kyle have. The city would agree to pay the health premiums for Sellers and his family pursuant to the city’s group healthcare plan for full-time employees. Sellers would receive the benefits should he continue employment in Kyle through March 2025.
The city would also pay up to 21 percent of Sellers’ base salary as a contribution to the Texas Municipal Retirement System.
Kyle would also bear the “full cost of any fidelity or other bonds” required of Sellers under any law or ordinance.
Sellers would receive a $100 per month mobile phone allowance, along with a tablet and a laptop.
The renegotiated contract came as a result of massive public scrutiny that followed the city’s previous proposal to Sellers.
In December, the city proposed an eight-year deal with a provision for a $29,000 reduction in Sellers’ base salary. Those funds were meant to go toward a $550,000 home in the Cypress Forest subdivision, which would have been purchased by the city.
Monies to purchase the home, a 4,100 square-foot residence, would have come from the city’s general fund reserves.
According to city estimates, the home, which would have been a city-owned asset, would appreciate by $227,000 and have cumulative lease revenue of $487,000 after a 30-year period. Sellers would have also received a five percent annual increase over the eight year term.
Residents, however, held reservations about the contract and spoke out against it on social media and during a special called meeting Dec. 16. Sellers ultimately declined the deal, which forced the city to enter into negotiations.
“What came through clear was that most people didn’t have a problem with Scott, but they had a problem with the contract and the way it was approached,” Webster said.
Webster was unsure, however, what the public’s reaction to the new contract would be when it comes up Jan. 17.
“The facts of it are there’s nothing creative in this contract,” Webster said. “It’s a standard three-year agreement based on what other cities are doing.”
Click here to view Sellers' contract on the city of Kyle's website.
