LAKE STEVENS — The city is seeking volunteers to help decide how much their mayor and City Council members should be paid.
A new five-person commission is being formed to set salaries for Lake Stevens’ elected officials. Applications are available and due by the end of the month. Commissioners will be appointed by the mayor and approved by the council.
The city has five other volunteer boards and commissions, all of which follow the same application, appointment and approval process, said Steve Edin, the city’s human resources director.
“It’s a good public process and a good chance for people to get involved,” he said.
Salaries for the mayor and City Council have not been reviewed or changed since 2002, Edin said.
Mayor Vern Little makes $1,200 a month. The seven council members make $300 a month plus $50 per meeting, capped at four meetings a month.
The city budgeted $56,400 per year in 2013 and 2014 for the mayor’s and council’s salaries.
Lake Stevens, home to nearly 30,000 people, modeled its salary commission after other cities, including Everett and Marysville.
Marysville’s seven-member salary commission has been in place since 2003, human resources director Kristie Guy said. The city of 63,000 pays its mayor $10,246 per month and council members $950 per month, plus $50 per meeting for up to 10 meetings a month.
In Everett, the county’s largest city with more than 105,000 people, the salary commission set the mayor’s pay at $13,249.06 per month for 2014. Council members make $2,247.04 per month.
To serve on the Lake Stevens Salary Commission, a volunteer must be a U.S. citizen who has lived in the city for at least a year. Applicants cannot be a city employee or official, or an immediate relative of a city employee or official.
Applications are available at Lake Stevens City Hall, 1812 Main St., or online at www.ci.lake-stevens.wa.us.
Kari Bray: 425-339-3439, kbray@heraldnet.com
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