Inkster compensation committee raises council pay to $9,400 a year

The Inkster elected officials compensation committee voted on March 4, 2025 to increase annual pay for city council members from $8,397 to $9,400, a $1,003 raise.

The committee re-opened discussion after a member said they wanted to retract a prior motion and propose a larger increase. A member formally moved "I move to increase the city council pay to $9,400, which is 1000 dollars and $3, increase," and another member immediately voiced support. With no further discussion, the chair called a roll-call vote; the members present voted in favor and the chair declared the motion carried.

Members spent much of the meeting debating how to set pay levels. Several members said the compensation commission lacks formal procedures and benchmarks. One participant noted the last pay adjustment occurred in 2016 and called the previous $500 increase insufficient. Committee members discussed alternatives to a flat raise, including tying pay to a percentage of city revenues to create an objective, self-adjusting mechanism. Others argued that setting pay should be an objective task for this body and that performance or merit-based systems would be subjective and difficult to administer.

The meeting record includes an explicit confirmation of the current pay level discussed during the meeting: $8,397 per year. After the motion passed, the committee made a motion to adjourn.

Because the transcript identifies only committee-level discussion and a formal vote, the committee's approved increase will require any further procedural steps spelled out by the city charter or council rules before changes take effect.