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Consultant: Bothell council pay roughly matches regional peers; benefits across cities are limited
Summary
A consultant presented comparative data showing Bothell’s council pay slightly below a regional average; most neighboring cities offer modest expense reimbursements rather than broad benefits.
Alex (consultant) told the Bothell Salary Commission that a regional comparison of council and mayor compensation shows Bothell tracking close to peers but slightly below the regional average.
The consultant said the cities surveyed included Auburn, Bellevue, Edmonds, Issaquah, Kenmore, Kirkland, Mercer Island, Mill Creek, Redmond, Shoreline and White—data the consultant gathered and followed up on with city staff. Alex said the analysis normalized council pay by population and produced an average of $0.43 per resident, equivalent to about $21,831 per year; Bothell’s council pay is slightly below that figure.
The consultant warned commissioners that the list mixes different municipal government forms and that mayor salaries are higher in strong-mayor cities (Auburn, Bellevue, Edmonds, Issaquah and Redmond), so mayor pay was excluded from any simple average. Alex also noted that many cities do not separate a deputy mayor position and instead use a council president.
Most jurisdictions, Alex said, do not provide broad benefits beyond modest expense reimbursements. A few exceptions include Kirkland, Edmonds and Issaquah, which provide targeted supports such as low-income stipends, childcare or other stipends. Redmond and Edmonds were listed as jurisdictions that provide health insurance to council members; the consultant said Redmond pays 100% of a council member’s medical premium and 70% for a spouse or dependent. Kirkland provides a cell-phone stipend; several cities allow reimbursement for travel and standard business expenses. All surveyed cities offer access to PERS participation (not mandatory) and some allow participation in Social Security replacement accounts (described in the packet as MBT-type arrangements).
Alex also reported that, where available, salary commissions in peer cities have met within the last two to three years and many meet on an ‘‘as needed’’ basis. A few jurisdictions include cost-of-living adjustments tied to staff compensation (Bellevue was mentioned as one example). In conversations with Kirkland staff, the consultant said council workload informed compensation decisions there: Kirkland reported an average of about 22 hours per week, and the city’s salary commission multiplied an hourly expectation by that number to derive its compensation figure.
No formal motion or vote was taken on compensation levels during the meeting. Commissioners used the presentation to ask clarifying questions about benefits, enrollment rules and how other cities verify eligibility for targeted stipends. The commission agreed to finalize and distribute a council-member survey to collect local input (see separate article on the survey and schedule).
