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Charter Commission to refer mayor and council salary question to Amendment Review Committee
Summary
After a Guidehouse benchmarking briefing, commissioners discussed mayor and council compensation and referred a mayoral letter on elected-official salaries to the Amendment Review Committee for further examination; staff noted changing who sets salaries would require a charter amendment.
The Charter Commission heard a briefing and discussion about elected-official compensation after Guidehouse benchmarking showed Minneapolis's mayor was paid below peer midpoints prior to a recent adjustment. City staff summarized that the council elected to raise the mayoral salary toward peer midpoint while keeping council adjustments phased during the term.
Commissioners asked whether shifting salary-setting authority away from the council to another body (including the Charter Commission) would require a charter amendment. Staff confirmed that changing who sets compensation would require an amendment to the charter and noted a special-law history dating back to the 1960s that places the council's salary-setting in resolution form rather than by ordinance. Commissioners discussed transparency, the difference between a resolution and ordinance process, and potential approaches such as tying adjustments to a consumer-price index or assigning authority to an independent panel.
Chair Ginder referred the mayor's letter on elected-official salaries to the commission's Amendment Review Committee for study. Staff (city clerk) offered to share prior Guidehouse reports and to work with the committee on examples of how other cities allocate salary-setting authority for elected officials.
