In some lower socio-economic areas, it might be a better model to look at the pastor job as a missionary position. There's missionary-minded people around (amazingly, thanks to God). My church has 1 pastor for each 100-130 people and they each get a stipend from the church, but are expected to seek other sources for the rest of their costs of living. I'm proud to be a member of a church with a structure like that. It means that the pastors have incentive stay close to the Lord, and it helps them to remain humble. I honor them from my heart more than I ever have honored a pastor in the past. As a congregation member, I would be swift to try to find a way to give them whatever they ask for.
The bottom line for me is that a congregation's responsibility is to be paying their pastor a salary based on market value (how much other pastors in the area are paid) which takes into account how much talent, education, and experience they have. I may be swayed by having only dealt with this issue in the corporate world, but I also can't think of a Biblical reason to vary from that. Pastors have to live in the world just like everyone else. God frequently gives congregations pastors not that dissimilar to them. If a greedy congregation wanted a humble, poorly paid pastor because that's how they view a good pastor, I wouldn't be surprised if the Lord rebuked them. It is more important that the pastor be able to relate to the people of the congregation, and they to him. The first thing missionaries do is establish a rapport with the people where he/she is, because without that, what they say has little weight. In a pastoral situation, who wants to go talk to someone who "can't understand" what their problems are like?
Corporate CEOs get paid "ridiculous" amounts of money because that is their market value. People look at their salaries aghast and think something like "they don't deserve to be paid that much," but that attitude springs from jealousy or ignorance, and often self-righteousness. No company needs to pay them like that, but when there is a high demand for certain individuals, they have to decide whether to pay it or look for someone else. If a CEO wanted to be paid too much, companies simply would look elsewhere. It is the company board of directors (who represent the company owners) that are responsible in a competitive market for CEO's high salaries, not the CEOs themselves.
It is in general a negative for a church to be known to pay their pastor poorly, unless it is in missionary-like circumstances. And rightfully so, since being a good pastor is a hard job with long hours which never halts the pastor from being the congregation's shepherd, even when they are on vacation. (I am reminded of medical doctors.)
Most importantly, it is not the congregation's business what a pastor spends their money on, and absolutely no business of the pundits that ridicule prosperous TV pastors. The idea that we are to tell brothers and sisters if they are doing wrong (such as giving a bad image to pastors) is misapplied terribly (consider each person's God-given authority over others), although much less in practice than when musing about the issue. Those who think they have the right to judge highly paid pastors because the image they project reflects on the kingdom need to remember that the kingdom has a king, and they aren't him.
Pastors are only accountable to whom they answer in their church structure and God. The idea that pastors be accountable to their congregation is contrary to God's nature regarding what authority he grants to whom. The closest thing is to be accountable as a brother to the elders. Congregations that want a pastor to be their employee are not trying to employ a Biblical pastor, they are looking for a Sunday school tutor. They lose out on the good that God has commanded for those under authority. In practice who has the authority to do what it isn't so black and white. Pastors can have both good or bad relationships with their congregants regardless of who is in authority. But the bottom line is that behind the scenes God is going to be upholding his expressed nature. It is up to us to take advantage of that to be blessed in the long-run or to resist it.
