Making $3.80 an hour
Lisa Hobbs|August 11, 2026|2 min readThe minimum wage in the first few months of 1991 was $3.80 an hour. It increased to $4.25 on April 1, 1991; not that anyone cares, but only the first three months of that year were at the lower wage.
Quoting the minimum wage in 1991 was used during Monday evening’s joint meeting of Financial Management and Budget and Finance committees to justify a stipend increase for county commissioners, which I do support. Let’s be honest here, $260 is pitiful.
If approved by the full commission, county commissioners’ monthly salary will increase from $260 to $417 and be tied to the county executive’s annual salary: 1/24th. When the state increases his/hers, commissioners will receive an increase. The mad genius behind that is no more controversial discussions regarding an increase.
Additionally, and not mentioned during the meeting, commissioners will continue to receive $30 per committee meeting they attend, if they are a member of said committee. I believe that all commissioners sit on at least one committee, while some commissioners sit on two and three.
According to county records, $86,190 was spent paying commissioners in fiscal year 2025-26. That amount averages $3,591 per year per commissioner or right at $300 per month. Warren County Way requested a breakdown of the salaries for each commissioner. However, Finance Director Justin Cotten stated that he’s not allowed to give out the exact amount that each commissioner earned.
It was stated during the meeting that commissioners earn $40 less than Board of Education members. Not so, when you factor in committee pay.
County Executive Terry Bell, who made the increase proposal, stated that those who complain about the salary bump aren’t making the same salary as they did in 1991. True. However, if we’re comparing apples to apples or minimum wage to minimum wage, given the current cost of housing, GROCERIES, car insurance (because it is mandatory now), and utilities, someone making the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour is likely to be no better off than the people who worked a minimum wage job in 1991 at $3.80. It wasn’t a living wage then and it’s not now.
My fiancé sent me a cartoon and the caption stated, “Our economy should be measured by how the bottom 30 percent are doing in the supermarket – not how the top 1 percent are doing in the stock market.”
Can I get an amen? This country should care more for the working class, because it is the backbone of the economy.
About the reporter
Lisa Hobbs
Public Relations Director, News Editor
Lisa Hobbs is an award-winning writer. She has 21 years of experience in newspaper journalism, including 17 years at a publication in Warren County. During that timeframe, she covered both city and county governments, education, wrecks, fires, crime, community events, and wrote a popular Sunday column named Just A Thought. “My desire at Warren County Way is to return ethical and dedicated news coverage to the community I served for almost two decades.”
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