Unable to access data element through the jquery dom

I want to create variables $eventDuration and $employeeRate, however, for some reason I am getting an error in the console saying they are undefined.

Here is my script code:

<script>
            $(document).ready(function () {
                $('.submitChange').click(function (ev) {
                    ev.stopPropagation();
                    var cell = ev.target;
                    
                    $eventDuration = $(this).data('eventduration');
                    $employeeRate = $(this).data('employeerate');
                    $usertype = $(this).data('employeetype');
                    $cellId = $(cell).attr('id');
                    $eventId = $(cell).data('eventid');
                    $employeeId = $(cell).data('employeeid');
                    if ($cellId === 'green-cell') {
                        $action = 'remove';
                    } else {
                        $action = 'add';
                    }
                    $.ajax({
                        url: "includes/ajax_request.php",
                        method: "POST",
                        data: {
                            action: $action,
                            eventId: $eventId,
                            employeeId: $employeeId
                        },
                        success: function (response) {
                            if (response === 'removed') { // remove an employee
                                $(cell).removeAttr('id').attr('id', 'yellow-cell'); 
                                if($usertype === 'Server') { // remove server 
                                    $(".sum_servers").each(function(){
                                        if($(this).attr('data-eventid')==$eventId){
                                            $sumServer = parseInt($(this).text());
                                            $sumServer--;
                                            $(this).text($sumServer)
                                        }
                                    })
                                    $(".sum_staff").each(function(){ // add staff member
                                        if($(this).attr('data-eventid')==$eventId){
                                            $sumStaff = parseInt($(this).text());
                                            $sumStaff--;
                                            $(this).text($sumStaff)
                                        }
                                    })
                                } else { // remove preparer 
                                    $(".sum_preparers").each(function(){ 
                                        if($(this).attr('data-eventid')==$eventId){
                                            $sumPreparers = parseInt($(this).text());
                                            $sumPreparers--;
                                            $(this).text($sumPreparers)
                                        }
                                    })
                                    $(".sum_staff").each(function(){ 
                                        if($(this).attr('data-eventid')==$eventId){
                                            $sumStaff = parseInt($(this).text());
                                            $sumStaff--;
                                            $(this).text($sumStaff)
                                        }
                                    })
                                }
                                
                                $(".sum_rate").each(function(){
                                    if($(this).attr('data-eventid')==$eventId){
                                        $sumRate = parseFloat($(this).text().replace('$', ''));
                                        $sumRate = $sumRate - (eventDuration*employeeRate);
                                        $(this).text($sumRate)
                                    }
                                })
                            } else { // add an employee
                                $(cell).removeAttr('id').attr('id', 'green-cell');
                                if($usertype === 'Server') { // add server 
                                    $(".sum_servers").each(function(){
                                        if($(this).attr('data-eventid')==$eventId){
                                            $sumServer = parseInt($(this).text());
                                            $sumServer++;
                                            $(this).text($sumServer)
                                        }
                                    })
                                    
                                    $(".sum_staff").each(function(){
                                        if($(this).attr('data-eventid')==$eventId){
                                            $sumStaff = parseInt($(this).text());
                                            $sumStaff++;
                                            $(this).text($sumStaff)
                                        }
                                    })
                                } else { // add preparer 
                                    $(".sum_preparers").each(function(){
                                        if($(this).attr('data-eventid')==$eventId){
                                            $sumPreparers = parseInt($(this).text());
                                            $sumPreparers++;
                                            $(this).text($sumPreparers)
                                        }
                                    })
                                    $(".sum_staff").each(function(){
                                        if($(this).attr('data-eventid')==$eventId){
                                            $sumStaff = parseInt($(this).text());
                                            $sumStaff++;
                                            $(this).text($sumStaff)
                                        }
                                    })
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    })
                })
            });
</script>

Here is the cell data I am trying to access (class=”submitChange” at the bottom)

<tr>
                            <th scope='row'><?php echo $row['lastname'] . ", " . $row['firstname']; ?></th>
                            <td><?php echo $row['phone']; ?></td>
                            <td><?php echo $row['usertype']; ?></td>
                            <?php
                            foreach ($events_array as $event) { 
                                $event_date = $event['date'];
                                $employee_id = $row['id'];
                                
                                // Check if employee has a vacation day
                                $vacation_day = false;
                                foreach ($vacation_dates[$employee_id] as $vacation_date) {
                                    if ($vacation_date == $event_date) {
                                        $vacation_day = true;
                                        break; 
                                    }
                                }
                                
                                // Check if employee is working that day
                                $sql_check_worker = "SELECT * FROM Workers WHERE employee={$row['id']} AND event={$event['id']}";
                                $result_check_worker = $smeConn->query($sql_check_worker);
                                if ($result_check_worker->num_rows > 0) { // displays cell color if employee is working or not
                                    $serverSum++;
                                    $cellColorId = 'green-cell';
                                } else {
                                    $cellColorId = 'yellow-cell';
                                }
                                ?>
                                <?php if ($vacation_day) { 
                                    echo "<td class='vacation'></td>"; 
                                } else {
                                    echo "<td class='submitChange' id='$cellColorId' data-employeerate='{$row['rate']}' data-eventduration='{$event['duration']}' data-employeetype='{$row['usertype']}' data-eventid='{$event['id']}' data-employeeid='{$row['id']}'></td>";
                                }
                                ?>
                            <?php } ?>
                            <td><?php echo $serverSum; ?></td>
                        </tr>

The cell for total cost which I am attempting to update, if it’s relevant:

<!-- TOTAL COST FOR A COLUMN -->
                        <tr>
                            <th colspan="2">TOTAL COST</th>
                            <td class="black-cell">*BLACK*</td>
                            <?php 
                            foreach ($events_array as $event) {
                                $event_id = $event['id'];
                                $sql_total_cost = "SELECT SUM(rate * duration) AS total_cost FROM Workers 
                                                   INNER JOIN Employees ON Workers.employee = Employees.id 
                                                   INNER JOIN Events ON Workers.event = Events.id 
                                                   WHERE Workers.event = $event_id";
                                $result_total_cost = $smeConn->query($sql_total_cost);
                                $row_total_cost = $result_total_cost->fetch_assoc();
                                $total_cost = $row_total_cost['total_cost'];
                                ?>
                                <td class='sum_rate' data-eventId='<?php echo $event_id;?>'><?php echo '$' . round($total_cost, 2); ?></td>
                            <?php } ?>
                            <td class="black-cell">*BLACK*</td>
                        </tr>

I am confused because I am able to create the $usertype variable the exact same way. But why am I unable to create $employeeRate or $eventDuration?