"He has to pay taxes on the whole $150,000 even if he donates $75,000 of it."
-- Dominic Calabro, president and CEO of Florida TaxWatch
Chopping the Apopka mayor’s $150,000 salary in half was a key plank in Bryan Nelson’s successful campaign for the city’s top post.
During a Jan. 31 forum he pledged, “The first thing is, I will take a 50 percent pay cut — a 50 percent pay cut — because that’s what the city needs.” He repeated the vow in an election mailer and in an interview with the Orlando Sentinel.
But after walloping incumbent Mayor Joe Kilsheimer in the March 13 election, Nelson told the Sentinel he plans to accept the full $150,000 salary and then return half to the city, rather than formally cutting the mayor’s pay to $75,000.
Read more at the Orlando Sentinel.