Meanwhile, Newman is set for a February retirement
The Henderson City Commission approved a 3.25% increase of City Manager Dylan Ward’s salary at Tuesday’s meeting.
The raise—more than $5,000—pushes Ward’s salary to $161,813.75, according to a city document in Tuesday’s agenda packet.
It comes at the end of Ward’s first year on the job, and according to Mayor Brad Staton, it was implemented after a job performance review and evaluation was conducted by the city commission.
He said the city commission met with Ward recently in executive session and discussed his job performance—what he’s doing well and what needs to improve.
He said the one-year review, with the possibility of a raise, was a part of the contract Ward signed when taking the job last year.
Though the city commission can always choose to conduct performance reviews and/or approve raises, the mayor said there is nothing in Ward’s contract that requires the commission to do so in the coming years. Ward, like other city employees, will receive merit and cost of living raises at the beginning of each fiscal year.
The city commission unanimously approved Ward’s raise.
Ward noted the job is enjoyable because of the people that work at the city.
“We really have a great team here,” he said. “We really do.”
He also lauded Public Works Director Brian Williams and Assistant City Manager Buzzy Newman (formerly the city manager), both of whom he’s worked under in the years Ward has been with the city.
Meanwhile, Staton announced at Tuesday’s meeting that Newman is scheduled to retire in February 2027.
This will, in fact, be the second time Newman has been scheduled to retire from the city. In the second half of 2024, Newman said he was eyeing retirement in early 2025.
Staton said that Newman has been wanting to retire for some time and talked about that occurring about one year into Staton’s term as mayor.
Newman agreed to stay on with the city and mentor Ward when it was announced in December 2024 that Ward was getting the city manager’s job. The two effectively switched roles in March 2025—Ward had been the assistant city manager.
Staton said the city most likely will hire another assistant city manager. In Tuesday’s meeting, he did, however, leave room that the city could take another path.
If the city were to hire another assistant city manager, pay would be commensurate with experience, the mayor said. The salary, though, would be at the same level or lower than what Newman is making, Staton said. The Hendersonian reported in March 2025 that Newman’s starting salary as assistant city manager was $118,000. That does not take into effect merit and COLA raises that occurred last July.
