Liberty Lake salary commission approves 7% raises for mayor and council

The Liberty Lake Salary Commission voted 3-0 to approve 7% increases for the mayor and city council and set a public hearing on the recommendation.

At a commission meeting, commissioners approved a 7% pay increase that will move the mayor's monthly pay from $2,675 (the current figure cited by staff) toward $2,865 when the commission memorializes the change, and a 7% increase for council that the commission recorded as $940 (rounded). The commission directed staff to publish notice and hold a public hearing, planned for Friday, Nov. 7 at 10:00 a.m., and to forward the recommendation to city council for recognition at its meeting on the 18th.

Kyle, a commission member, said the commission's work is meant to keep compensation aligned with comparable jurisdictions. "The goal of the commission is just to make sure that fair wages are paid for the work that's performed," Kyle said, summarizing the rationale behind the proposed adjustments and the use of comparative data.

Commissioners debated how to treat high outliers in the comparison pool. Mark Saba, a commission member, argued that two cities' Ferndale and Sumner' skewed the data and favored excluding them for the current calculation. Kyle noted the commission had produced two parallel spreadsheets: one that included Ferndale and Sumner and one that excluded them so commissioners could compare results.

Aaron Asmus, a commission member, moved to adopt the 7% increase for the mayor; Mark Saba seconded the motion. The motion passed 3-0 (yes votes: Kurt; Aaron Asmus; Mark Saba). Asmus then moved a 7% increase for city council; Saba seconded. That motion also passed 3-0.

Commission discussion included the commission's recent history of adjusting pay in stages rather than making a larger one-time increase. Kyle reminded commissioners that the salary commission had been dormant for a period and, after reconvening, had recommended larger initial adjustments where comparators had not changed for many years. Commissioners said incremental increases help reduce large year-to-year jumps.

The commission agreed not to permanently exclude Ferndale and Sumner from the comparator pool; commissioners said they will reintroduce them into the data set in future years if those jurisdictions follow the commission's data-update protocol.

The commission scheduled the public hearing for Friday, Nov. 7 at 10:00 a.m.; staff will publish the required notices and include explanatory materials in the packet. The commission noted the item will be placed on the city council's agenda on the 18th for council recognition.

Votes at a glance: - Motion: Approve mayor salary increase (7%); memorialized figure discussed as $2,865. Mover: Aaron Asmus. Second: Mark Saba. Vote: Kurt (yes), Aaron Asmus (yes), Mark Saba (yes). Outcome: approved, 3-0. - Motion: Increase city council pay by 7%; memorialized figure discussed as $940. Mover: Mark Saba. Second: Aaron Asmus. Vote: Kurt (yes), Aaron Asmus (yes), Mark Saba (yes). Outcome: approved, 3-0.

The commission also approved the meeting agenda and the minutes from the previous meeting by voice vote before the salary discussion. The commission indicated the salary adjustments will be presented to the public at the Nov. 7 hearing and forwarded to city council for recognition on the 18th.