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Lake Elmo council reopens stipend conversation; suggested midpoint roughly $9,000 mayor, $7,000 council
Summary
Councilors reviewed comparables and inflation indexes for stipends that have not changed since 2013; staff presented median figures and indexing options and council discussed raising the mayor to about $9,000 and council members to about $7,000 or indexing to an established municipal index.
Councilors spent a substantive portion of the meeting reviewing mayor and council stipends, which have not changed since an increase adopted in 2013. Staff presented comparative medians from peer cities and inflation-based indexing options.
A staff member summarized that a straightforward inflation adjustment using the consumer-price index would put the mayor's stipend near $8,650 and council members near $6,700, but an American City and County municipal-cost index would produce slightly higher figures (roughly $9,873 for mayor and $7,678 for council) over the same period. Councilors discussed the pros and cons of using an indexing mechanism to avoid long gaps between adjustments. "If we were to [index], that would be a better number to use than the CPI because it reflects actual costs government has seen," staff said.
Several councilors said modest increases are defensible given Lake Elmo's rapid growth and the workloads associated with development and infrastructure decisions; others cautioned against framing the stipend solely in financial terms. A working suggestion voiced in the meeting was to round to $9,000 for the mayor and $7,000 for council members as a defensible midpoint for future ordinance change, with the option to consider indexing going forward.
No ordinance or formal motion was passed; staff indicated that any change would require an ordinance amendment and would be timed in coordination with election-year rules and city code.
