New city administrator to be paid $195,000 annually

Webb

The details of incoming City Administrator Carol Webb’s contract have been revealed, and she will receive a substantial pay increase both in comparison to her current job in Muscatine and her predecessors in Marshalltown.

Webb, who has served as city administrator in Muscatine since 2020, will be paid $195,000 annually in accordance with the terms of her three-year employment contract, and she will also be required to establish residency inside the city limits within six months of her start date, which is currently set for Sept. 3. According to a report in the Muscatine Journal, Webb signed a new three-year contract there last August and was being paid a base salary of $176,665.

By contrast, Joe Gaa, who lasted just 4 ½ months in Marshalltown before abruptly resigning in January, was being paid $180,708, and Jessica Kinser, who held the role for nearly seven years before Gaa, was making $185,536 at the time of her departure in May of 2023. Webb will start with four weeks of paid vacation, 10 days of sick leave, two personal days and nine paid holidays, and she will receive $10,000 in relocation assistance, a $400 monthly vehicle allowance and a cell phone reimbursement of $40 per month.

If Webb is terminated “without cause,” she will be entitled to six months worth of severance pay and accrued vacation, but if she is fired for cause, she will not be entitled to any severance pay. If she decides to end her employment voluntarily, she must provide a 45-day notice of intent to terminate the contract and will receive no severance pay — but she will be paid out for accrued vacation.

Mayor Joel Greer, who has held the interim city administrator position twice now in the last year, shared his thoughts with the T-R on Saturday.

“As a lawyer for 45 years, drafting contracts has been part of the job. Our current contract for our new city administrator varies little from the last two such contracts,” he said. “It protects both parties, but I predict nobody will have to dust it off and put it under the microscope for a while because Carol should be here for many years. She will be a good fit!”