Incoming Palm Coast City Manager Michael McGlothlin would be paid $225,000 a year and have a total compensation package that would push the total well past the $300,000 mark based on the proposed contract the City Council is set to approve on Tuesday.
McGlothlin negotiated the contract with Mayor Mike Norris, City Attorney Marcus Duffy and Human Resources Director Renina Fuller. McGlothlin got the final product on Nov. 25.
The base pay is 29 percent higher than that of his predecessor in the permanent job, Denise Bevan, who was paid $175,000 a year. Acting City Manager Lauren Johnston was paid $189,000 when hired as interim after Bevan’s firing in March 2024, as Johnston was to carry on her previous duties in addition to the manager’s duties.
Flagler Beach City Manager Dale Martin just got a 4 percent raise after two years on the job, bringing his base salary to $171,620. Bunnell City Manager Alvin Jackson in October got a 10 percent raise, to $158,000. School Superintendent LaShakia Moore is paid $182,000 a year. County Administrator Heidi Petito’s original base pay in 2021 was $179,000, but has been raised annually, matching inflation, and is closer to $222,000 a year. None of those salaries include benefits and other forms of compensation.
None of the executives benefit from the level of additional compensation the Palm Coast manager will, though the superintendent and the county administrator are enrolled in the state’s generous Florida Retirement System. Palm Coast employees, including the manager, are not eligible, so the city has customarily provided retirement pay.
McGlothlin would start work on Dec. 17. In addition to his base pay, he would get 17 percent of his base pay in additional retirement compensation, or $38,250 a year. He would be eligible for up to 2 percent of his base pay, or up to $4,500, as a match to his deferred compensation plan. He would get a $6,000-a-year car allowance and an undefined stipend for a city phone, which would be the equivalent of $1,200 to $1,500 for the year.
For the first time for any city manager–he would be the seventh, counting interims–McGlothlin would get an extra benefit that would give him an incentive to stay on the clock during emergencies, when managers typically put in 18- to 20-hour days: “During a declared local state of emergency or disaster event, the city manager will be compensated for hours actually worked beyond their regular scheduled workday,” the proposed contract states. “The additional compensation will be paid at 100% of the salary rate of pay.”
McGlothlin’s hourly pay is $108.17. Assuming he were to work 18-hour days during a local hurricane or tropical storm emergency, when the manager, directors and others turn Fire Station 25 on Belle Terre Parkway into the city’s Emergency Operations Center, he would be paid an additional $1,000 a day–a bonus provided none of the city’s salaried personnel. Line workers are eligible for overtime pay.
He would also be eligible for health benefits, if he elects to take them, as provided directors and the manager (a different level of benefits than that extended line workers). “The Plan currently includes medical/health insurance plan, short-term disability, long-term disability, dental, life insurance, and vision insurance. The City agrees to pay the full premiums for the City Manager and his eligible dependents,” the contract states. The city does not pay the premiums of dependents of other employees.
McGlothlin will start his tenure with a week’s vacation in his time-off bank (40 hours) and accrue additional vacation and sick time with each pay period. If he does not use either, he will be eligible, upon his retirement, his resignation or his firing, for all the accrued time, in cash, for up to 640 hours (320 hours in each category), or the equivalent of $69,120 in addition to severance, should he be eligible. Severance is limited by law to 20 weeks, or $86,400. (Bevan at her firing received $126,419 in combined severance and accrued time, plus $12,273 in health benefits, or the equivalent of a year’s premiums.)
The contract may be terminated “for cause,” in accordance with the city charter. The Charter Review Committee, currently meeting bi-weekly–its recommendations are due on March 1–is considering requiring a supermajority to fire the city manager.
McGlothlin is to be evaluated yearly, around October.
Ray Flieger says
Hi there pretty sweet deal for someone who was terminated from his last position. Almost double his salary plus overtime. He should contribute some time as his pay scale. WRONG, WRONG, WRONG.