The executive director of the Jacksonville Aviation Authority received a $32,688 bonus Monday during a meeting in which the ceiling on his bonus for this year was bumped to $69,000.
With the bonus added to his $217,924 base salary, Executive Director John Clark earned $250,612 this past year, topping the compensation brought in by heads of the airports in Miami, Orlando, Tampa and West Palm Beach.
The highest paid of that group, the executive director of the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority, made $237,612 last year, according to figures provided to the Jacksonville authority by consultants Cody & Associates Inc. That director, who runs Tampa International Airport, does not have a bonus as part of his contract.
Clark has the potential of almost doubling his bonus next year, with the board members voting unanimously to raise the maximum bonus to 30 percent of his base salary from the 20 percent it was last year. At the same time, they gave the executive director a 5.5 percent raise, to $230,000.
"I think he's done a heck of a job," board member Ron Weaver said. "His leadership has been outstanding."
If Clark receives the full bonus amount next year, he would make $299,999, topping the $255,000 earned by the head of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
The raise, which comes a year and a half since Clark's last salary boost, is retroactive to June 1.
The change in cycle - like most airport employees, Clark's contract previously ran in accordance with the fiscal year, which begins in October - is designed to make it easier to evaluate Clark's work, said Cyrus Jollivette, who chaired the committee negotiating the new contract.
Clark's review comes only after an outside audit is done of the authority's finances, which usually takes several months. "If we stuck to the fiscal year," Jollivette said, "I would have put in to make it retroactive to a year ago."
In hammering out the new five-year contract, Jollivette worked with compensation consultants Cody & Associates, which recommended a salary between $225,000 and $235,000.
As well as picking the midpoint of that range, the board also agreed with the consultants' recommendation to:
- Raise Clark's monthly business expense allowance to $750.
- Add a $15,000 supplemental retirement plan to the fully funded retirement plan the authority now provides.
- Bump the executive director's car allowance to $800 a month.
The increase of the potential bonus pool was not one of the consultants' recommendations, although the outside firm did recommend continuing with an incentive system.
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