City Council members could ring in the new year with a self-imposed 50 percent pay raise.
The council is thinking about increasing its annual salary from $6,000 to $9,000. The reason behind the proposed raise, officials say, is to maintain state retirement benefits. To qualify for the money in 1994, council members would have to earn a minimum of $7,104 a year. The retirement funds will be cut off without a raise.Council members currently receive $32.15 per paycheck for retirement from a state- and city-funded pool. They have the option of taking the money, which totals $836 a year, when they leave office or having it included in their biweekly checks.
Council salaries were set at $500 a month in 1982 when Provo switched from the commission form of government to the strong mayor-council form. They have not increased since. Provo council members are paid less than their colleagues in Utah cities with the same form of government.
Besides raising council members' salaries to $750 a month, a proposed ordinance also would give the council chairman and vice chairman an additional $200 and $100 a month, respectively.
The council would have voted on the proposal Tuesday night, but the city failed to publish notice for a public hearing. It is scheduled to be discussed at the Jan. 4 meeting.
But Councilman Jim Daley said he isn't inclined to sponsor the ordinance again. He wanted to take the vote before two new council members are seated next month.
"Someone else can take the heat for it, but I'm not going to do it," Daley said. He also said he doesn't want to "hang the new council out to dry."
The mayor's office is working on a version of the ordinance that would put council members' salaries on a sliding scale. Raises would be tied to the annual increase, typically 3 percent, that the mayor and city employees receive every July.
Daley doesn't like that plan because it eliminates public input. "I think the mayor and elected officials ought to have a public hearing on their pay," he said.
Councilwoman Jane Carlile said she would not support any pay increase.
"I think it borders on or even crosses the line for irresponsibility," she said. Carlile said it's wrong for the council to vote itself a raise at the same time it's considering a utility franchise tax increase. The council will discuss upping the tax from 5 percent to 6 percent - an estimated $1.35 a month to residents - in January.Whether they favor a pay raise or not, Carlile and Daley agree that council members aren't compensated enough for the work they do.
"I think that the council works hard," Carlile said, adding council members probably deserve more money, as do all city workers.
Daley said he spends countless hours studying issues and driving around town to check out proposed housing developments or other projects.
"No one's in it for the money," he said. But "you shouldn't have to lose money to be a council member."
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(Chart)
Annual salaries for councils
Salt Lake City $12,874
Sandy $9,816
Murray $8,424
Ogden $6,300
Provo $6,000