Jacksonville, Ark. (KATV) — The City of Jacksonville is fighting back against a published report that claimed Mayor Jeff Elmore had awarded himself a pay raise without authorization from the city council.

The report, which was published in a Jacksonville newspaper, claimed that he awarded himself a nearly $23,000 raise.

But the mayor insists his salary adjustment was for $15,000 and brings his annual salary to just over $115,000.

“This was unanimously agreed upon by the city council,” said Elmore.

“I did not ask for it. They called an executive session to discuss my salary, because actually, the mayor position here in Jacksonville has been significantly lower than any of the city sizes around us that are comparable.”

Elmore did receive a raise — but it was for $15,000 — and was authorized by the Jacksonville City Council.

That brings his salary to $115,000.

Not only did the mayor receive a raise — all city employees received a 3% cost of living increase for 2026 — while city council members received a 14% raise.

It was all done to even the gap of how much the city’s mayor had been making — in comparison to what mayors of similar-sized towns are making.

According to data from the Arkansas Municipal League, Elmore’s adjusted salary put him closer to mayors of similar sized cities.

The mayor of Paragould, Josh Agee, has an annual salary of $140,000, and Paragould has a nearly identical population to Jacksonville.

Ken Kincade, the mayor of Cabot, which has about 3,000 fewer people than Jacksonville, makes $130,000 a year.

Bella Vista’s John Flynn makes about $131,000 a year, in a town with about 1,000 more people than Jacksonville.

Elmore does admit that these salary adjustments should have been addressed differently.

“They did not do it as a separate ordinance, they included it in the salary package of our budget overall [BUTT] that should be done through a separate ordinance, which that is going to be corrected at our next city council meeting.”

The salary adjustments will formally be adopted at the next city council meeting — which is scheduled for February 19.