Green Bay committee sets mayors pay at $128,547, approves automatic annual raises tied to city employees

At a June meeting of the City of Green Bay Personnel Committee, members approved staffs recommendation to set the mayor's salary for the next term beginning in 2027 at $128,547 and to apply annual increases that match increases for general city employees in perpetuity unless the council takes a different action.

A staff member presenting the item said the figure is based on a comparison of municipalities and consultant guidance; the presenter said they changed a prior assumption of 3% annual increases to 3.5% to align with a consultant recommendation. "What we're recommending is a pay of $128,547," the staff member said. The staff member also noted the city's pay plan target of the 62.5th percentile and presented fuller and limited comparable scopes from the Cunningham and Butler Total Rewards Consulting attachment.

Committee discussion focused on comparables and the mayor's responsibilities under Green Bay's strong-mayor system. Alder Homer Johnson said the mayor is the official "that's running day to day operations of the city," and argued compensation should reflect those duties to attract qualified candidates. Other members referenced neighboring and comparable cities' pay levels — including figures cited in the presentation such as Kenosha, Janesville and small-city examples — while warning against letting the salary become a political target that goes unadjusted for long periods.

One committee member moved to adopt staff's recommendation and to add language tying the mayor's annual increase to the salary adjustments given to general city employees in perpetuity unless council acts to change it; the motion was seconded and passed unanimously. The committee record shows members discussed reviewing the mayor's salary on the normal four-year cycle, while the automatic annual increases would apply between reviews.

Staff materials attached to the item referenced consulting data with ranges across comparable communities and percentiles; the committee chose a recommendation near the 75th percentile rather than reducing to a 62.5th-percentile application. The presentation noted examples of city structures where a mayor's salary is modest but administrative staff are highly paid, and emphasized that Green Bay's strong-mayor model concentrates significant day-to-day administrative responsibility in the elected mayor.

The committee's action sets the recommended salary and the mechanism for annual adjustments; council action will be required to implement any ordinance or pay plan change required to enact the new salary structure.