Finance committee unanimously forwards proposed pay increases for mayor, controller and council to full council

The Bethlehem City Council Finance Committee unanimously recommended that three proposed ordinances to adjust compensation for the mayor, the controller and city council be placed on the agenda of the full City Council for consideration.

Chairwoman Grace Cramsey Smith said the committee would discuss the proposals and related items and then decide whether to move them forward; the committee voted to combine the ordinances for consideration and to forward the package to full council. The committee vote was recorded as aye by Grace Cramsey Smith, Hillary Kwiatek and Rachel Leone.

The proposed changes would update salaries that committee members said have not been reviewed in more than a decade. Council members’ base pay, the committee noted, has remained at $7,100 for council members and $7,600 for the council president since 2009. Committee members also said the controller’s pay has not been adjusted since 2009 and that the mayor’s salary has not been changed since 2013. Councilwoman Mary Wilhelm, who presented a memorandum outlining the adjustments, told the committee that any change approved now would not take effect until after the next election, so current officeholders voting on the ordinances would not necessarily benefit personally.

"Any changes that we approve wouldn't take effect until after an individual is reelected," Councilwoman Wilhelm said, arguing the proposals are about ensuring fair compensation for future officeholders. Wilhelm and other committee members cited higher base compensation in neighboring Allentown and Easton as context for the review.

Public comment at the start of the meeting addressed the pay proposal in opposing terms and offered alternatives. Bill Shire of Eaton Avenue urged support for raising salaries but also raised an unrelated request for a city grant to local public radio; the chair said that item was outside the committee agenda. Resident Bud Hackett questioned the assumption that higher pay would attract better candidates and urged merit-based increases: "Paying someone more just because the other city does it is not appropriate," Hackett said, adding that increases should be tied to agreed goals and outcomes.

Committee members discussed budget effects and possible approaches to limit immediate fiscal impact. Several members said the proposed increases, as drafted, would not be budget-neutral and would require either additional revenue or cuts elsewhere; they discussed phasing increases across multiple budget years as a possible path to reduce one-time pressure on the operating budget. One committee member suggested staggering adjustments — for example, raising the controller in one year, the mayor in another and council over multiple years — to ease absorption into the annual budget process.

Members also noted the mayor has publicly said he would not sign a personal pay increase, and that the ordinances are structured as separate items so the mayor could veto only an item he opposed. The committee did not adopt specific funding sources; members said such decisions would be addressed when the full council considers the ordinances and as staff develops the FY budget.

The committee made two formal motions on the item: to combine the three proposed ordinances for consideration and to recommend approval of the proposals to the full City Council. The roll calls on the motions were unanimous in favor. No final salary amounts were adopted by the committee; the ordinances will next appear on the full council agenda for debate and final action.

Looking ahead, committee members said they prefer moving the matter to full council so all seven council members can discuss amendment options such as phasing or smaller annual increases. They said elections serve as the primary performance review for elected officials and that any merit-based mechanisms would require additional policy work or a separate proposal.

Votes at a glance: The Finance Committee voted unanimously to (1) combine the three proposed ordinances relating to elected-official compensation and (2) recommend the combined ordinances to the full Bethlehem City Council for consideration. The committee did not adopt the ordinances as final policy; final adoption remains with the full council.