Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Government Compensation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Elected officials compensation commission proposes raises; council asks about COLA treatment and timing
Summary
Staff summarized recommendations from the citizen Elected Officials Compensation Commission to raise council salaries to just under $29,000 and the mayor’s to just over $160,000; councilors asked how the commission treated cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) and noted the commission exists to avoid politicized pay-setting.
City staff reminded the council that a citizen commission appointed earlier this year had recommended updated salaries for the mayor and council members as part of a four-year review process.
Director Justin Harrison summarized the recommendations the compensation commission delivered in April: a proposed council salary of just under $29,000 and a mayor’s salary of just over $160,000 per year. Harrison said the commission set the amounts after comparing peer-city salaries and projecting probable COLAs over the coming year; the commission’s recommendation assumed a typical COLA of about 2–2.5% and implemented the increase after accounting for those adjustments.
Councilors asked for clarifying detail. Human Resources representative Daniel (last name not specified in work session) explained the commission’s methodology: it used current salaries, adjusted for expected July COLAs, and set a four-year salary level that will be subject thereafter to routine annual COLAs. Councilors asked whether approving the increase would create a situation in which councilors vote on their own pay; staff and councilors discussed the purpose of the independent commission as a buffer to avoid politicized pay-setting.
Several councilors expressed support for the commission process and for ensuring salaries do not deter qualified candidates from running, noting that suppressed compensation can limit who is able to serve. Director Harrison reminded the council that the ordinance requires the council and mayor to adopt a recommendation by June 17 and that Finance would prefer an earlier date for budget planning.
No formal vote or ordinance action occurred in the work session; staff will return with the commission’s written recommendation and timing for council action within the ordinance schedule.
