Rick Neale

FLORIDA TODAY

Palm Bay City Manager Gregg Lynk may get a pay raise totaling about $50,000 during his 22nd month on the job.

Lynk was hired in April 2015 as part of a City Hall leadership shake-up, which was initiated by a newly elected City Council conservative majority. He had no previous city management experience.

Lynk earns an annual salary of $140,876, a $250 monthly expense allowance, the use of a 2015 Ford Explorer, and other benefits. He also receives roughly $9,000 per year in deferred pension benefits, said Ron Clare, deputy city manager.

Thursday night, council members were expected to discuss boosting Lynk's salary to $175,000 and his annual deferred pension benefits to $24,000. However, on Tuesday, Deputy Mayor Harry Santiago — who proposed the contractual changes — postponed the council discussion until further notice to work on details. He and Lynk have discussed the topic during the past month.

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Palm Bay is Brevard County's largest city with 107,888 residents, U.S. Census statistics show. During Palm Bay's 2015 city manager search, Santiago said consultants told council members that Palm Bay's salary range was small, considering its demographics and geographic size.

According to backing materials for Thursday’s presentation, city managers earn $199,928 in Pompano Beach (population 105,000), $196,757 in Clearwater (population 112,387), and $189,342 in Lakeland (population 100,000).

In other General Development Corp.-founded cities, city managers earn $169,949 in North Port (population 62,345) and $190,000 in Port St. Lucie (population 179,413), the presentation shows. Nationwide, the average salary for managers of cities with more than 100,000 residents is $217,893, the International City/County Management Association reports.

"It is about a $50,000 jump. However, it is — at least in my opinion — somewhat of a correction as to what the salary should be for a city of our size," Santiago said.

"We brought Gregg in lower because we understand that he didn't have that experience working with cities, but he did have a lot of experience in the private sector. He's done very well, I believe, in carrying out the vision of the council with regards to smart growth and commercial development here in the city of Palm Bay," he said.

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On the other hand, Councilman Jeff Bailey opposes the proposed pay raise.

"I don't think it's normal for city managers who have less than two years of experience to come in and start approaching what the average salary is of other people with decades more experience," Bailey said.

"I really do think it's going to take more time to evaluate the success of getting somebody who came from the private sector and seeing how they fit in this role. It's not something that should be evaluated in two years," he said.

"Management's job is to keep the best talent for the least cost to the taxpayers here. It doesn't seem like much of a negotiation. If we tell him we're going to give him a $10,000 raise, is he going to say no, he wants $50,000?" he said.

Lynk declined comment for this story.

Previous Palm Bay city manager Sue Hann was hired in June 2011 for $149,256, and she earned $157,577 when she resigned in December 2014. Lee Feldman's salary ranged from $121,000 to $167,000 during his tenure, which lasted from October 2002 to June 2011.

Contact Neale at 321-242-3638, rneale@floridatoday.com or follow @RickNeale1 on Twitter