SNOHOMISH — The City Council and the mayor are getting pay raises along with the city of Snohomish staff.
The council members are to see a 14 percent increase, while the mayor will earn 3 percent more. Total annual compensation will be $8,700 for the mayor and $6,156 for each council member.
The council approved the pay bump in October after Snohomish completed a study that compared its wages to those of similar-sized cities. Snohomish is using that research as the basis for raises across the board for city employees in 2015. City Manager Larry Bauman said those increases were necessary for the city to remain competitive in attracting and retaining workers.
But the city is increasing pay for the mayor and council for different reasons.
“It’s not because we’re trying to be competitive,” Bauman said. “It’s trying to keep current with other cities. It’s an equity issue.”
Snohomish compared the salaries for the mayor and council members against the wages of counterparts in eight other Washington cities.
Snohomish, a city of 9,401 people, ranked in the middle with a mayor’s salary of $700 a month and council member salaries at $450 per month.
Airway Heights, just west of Spokane and with a population of 6,426, had the highest pay among the eight city mayors, paying $2,000 a month. Council members there receive $750, the study showed.
The study showed that Edgewood, a city with a population of 9,591 near Tacoma, had the lowest salaries, with the mayor and council members earning $338 and $250 a month, respectively.
With that information, Snohomish is adjusting the mayor’s pay to $725 a month and the council’s to $513. Those numbers are just below average for the eight cities in the study.
Not included in the city’s research were larger neighbors. Mill Creek, about twice the size of Snohomish, pays the mayor $700 a month and council members $500.
In Lake Stevens, which is three times as big as Snohomish, council members earn $300 a month plus $50 per meeting. The mayor makes $1,200 a month.
The Snohomish raises will go into effect in 2016, after the next general election.
The last time the mayor and council received an increase in pay was after the city completed a compensation study in 2003.
“This is the only time their salaries get adjusted,” Bauman said.
Amy Nile: 425-339-3192; anile@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @AmyNileReports.
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