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Council adopts phased plan to raise mayoral and council salaries
Summary
Staff recommended and council adopted O18 to tie councilor pay to the state-authorized maximum for class A county commissioners ($39,106) and set the mayor at 2.5× that amount, phased in across 2026 and 2028; staff emphasized the increases would not apply to current officeholders during their terms.
Deputy City Manager Peter Wells presented a staff market and compensation analysis recommending changes to elected-official pay. Wells said councilor salaries should be tied to the maximum amount authorized by the New Mexico Legislature for county commissioners in class A counties ($39,106) and that the mayoral salary be set at 2.5 times that benchmark—mirroring models used by Las Cruces and Santa Fe. "The proposed ordinance before you this evening, should it be adopted, would kick in starting with our March 2026 election, and then our March 2028 election," Wells said, adding that current officeholders would not receive adjustments during their current terms due to constitutional restrictions.
Wells explained the change would be phased so that councilor salaries for districts currently paid lower amounts would reach the $39,106 benchmark after the referenced election cycles and the mayor's annual salary would increase to about $97,067. Several councilors voiced support, saying the change was a fair and researched adjustment to broaden access to public service. The council voted to adopt O18 at second reading.
