With a 2-0 vote on Monday, the Vicksburg Mayor of Board and Aldermen voted themselves a 5 percent increase in salary. The bump moves Mayor Paul Winfield’s salary to $89,340 a year, while the aldermen make $71,472 a year. We do not begrudge the raises — if the increase in salary is backed up by results.

South Ward Alderman Sid Beauman trumpeted the city’s not raising taxes and being “good stewards of the people’s money.”

“We are the CEOs of a $50 million business, and it falls on our shoulders to run that $50 million business properly,” Beauman said.

According to a 2002 city ordinance authorizing the raise, the mayor and aldermen receive 5 percent raises on July 1 of the board’s second and third years in office, from July 1, 2005, to July 1, 2014, when the ordinance expires.

In austere times, though, and with salaries above the state average, is a 5 percent bump in salary for themselves being “good stewards”?

Consider:

• Unemployment throughout Warren County has been above 11 percent— nearly a percentage point above the state average — for the entire year.

• Property values on homes and businesses have reportedly fallen by 1 percent.

• Empty storefronts and for-sale signs on homes are common sights in the city.

• The debris in front of a collapsed building — five years later — still litters surrounding areas. (The board, on the same day as the raises were approved, again tabled a measure to improve the look of the area surrounding the building, giving a 30-day extension for the owners to clean it up.)

• The average salary for a mayor in the U.S. is $62,000, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.

• Winfield has said the city recovered $6 million owed to the city. From whom? Where is the money? What is it being used for?

• The board, for nearly two years, has said it is working on a plan to consolidate and streamline city operations. In a July 17 story about his two years in office, Winfield again said he is planning to streamline services, singing the same song that has been sung since 2009. Where are the results of those efforts?

• City financial mismanagement has led to audits being two years behind. The city had to hire an outside agency to help complete the task.

• The bridge over railroad tracks and Clark and Washington streets is still closed — 30 months after it had to be closed to vehicular traffic.

• A modern sports complex in the planning stages for years is no closer to being completed than the first day plans were unveiled. Yet Winfield still believes Vicksburg can be a recreational sports hub. More talk.

It is obvious board members believe the job they are doing is worthy of a 5 percent bump in salary.

If salaries are rewarded by talk and grand plans, they are correct.