Thorsby’s next mayor will earn a salary of $24,000, an increase of $6,000 from the current pay.

The town council approved the $500-a-month increase during Monday’s meeting. They also decided to keep the council members pay at $250 a month.

Council members Neil Benson, Marvin Crumpton and Jean Nelson voted in favor of the increase while Tara Jewell voted against it. Councilman Willis Britt was absent from Monday’s meeting.

Several council members said the mayor’s position takes more time than ever before.

“There’s a lot more responsibility now than there’s ever been. I consider him [Mayor Dearl Hilyer] to be full-time,” said Crumpton. “There’s a lot more involved in being mayor than it was four years ago. It’s more complicated.”

All the council members praised Hilyer for the work he has done in that role.

“Whoever gets mayor, we will want them to keep it up,” said Benson.

Jewell expressed concern that whoever is elected mayor this summer might not put the same amount of hours into the job as Hilyer does.

“You don’t know if the next mayor will do it full-time or not,” Jewell said. “I don’t know if you will get someone who works it full-time like Dearl does.”

Hilyer said at Monday’s meeting that he hasn’t decided yet if he will seek a second term as mayor.

In other business, the council approved buying a $200 ad in the Thorsby High School band calendar.