JEA CEO Paul McElroy’s contract expires at the end of September, and negotiations have begun to extend that agreement for three years.
The contract extension would pay McElroy an annual salary of $520,392 beginning Oct. 1, 2018, plus benefits, with 3 percent annual raises through Oct. 1, 2021.
In addition to his base salary, McElroy would receive a $1,000 monthly allowance for business expenses, a JEA vehicle or up to $850 per month if he decides to drive his own car, and any benefits offered to other employees and JEA executives.
A change from his previous contract is the absence of incentive-driven bonuses, something with which McElroy agrees.
In 2017, McElroy received a $48,000 bonus for hitting benchmarks dealing with cost control, safety and overall customer satisfaction, despite criticism from the public and Mayor Lenny Curry over the response to hurricanes Matthew and Irma.
The bonus was slightly more than 10 percent of his annual salary of about $450,000, and less than the 15 percent bonus he could have received.
At the request of Curry’s office, JEA also is studying becoming a private company, something the contract addresses.
If McElroy is terminated within one year of what the company calls a “Change of Control,” he would receive a severance package that includes his base salary up to his termination date, plus a lump sum of cash worth up to two years’ salary and continued access to his fringe benefits package for up to 36 months.
The JEA board of directors decided to table the contract discussion Tuesday, assigning it to its compensation committee members to vet before it comes back before the full board.
McElroy has been at the head of the publicly owned utility since 2012 after spending six years as chief financial officer, and prior to that, vice president of financial services.
He is the seventh chief executive since the utility was established in 1968.