CC Council considers elected official compensation

By Kate Hayden, khayden@charlescitypress.com

It’s still a few months away from the city election season, but the Charles City Council is reviewing compensation for elected officials now in case changes should be made.

“You want to encourage people to serve and be a part of it,” City Administrator Steve Diers told the Press on Thursday. “(The Council) wants to be competitive and be mindful of it.”

Diers brought the council planning session on Wednesday a survey of what 35 similarly populated Iowa towns compensate council members and mayors. Charles City compensates elected council members with $30 per meeting, not counting planning sessions or budget workshops, which maxes at $720 a year, Diers said. A common amount statewide seems to be $50 per meeting. The council will also consider if the city will pay for planning session attendance or not.

“The general consensus is just to pay for the council meeting, not the workshop. There aren’t a lot of communities that will have regular workshops/planning sessions like we do,” Diers said. “That helps with the regular meetings as far as being familiar with the topic. It gives staff the opportunity to research and tweak, so when we present at the council it keeps things moving.”

Still, “To pay for both seems to be too much,” Diers added.

The city historically has a $1,000 cap on compensation to council members, which seems to have been placed years ago for budgeting purposes, Diers said. The city will likely continue to pay on a per-meeting basis for council members rather than giving a salary for accountability reasons.

The council also considered salary amounts for the city mayor. Charles City currently pays it’s mayor $4,500. The average salary among the 35 communities is around $5,235, Diers said.

Council members discussed raising the mayor’s salary partially because of the work Mayor Jim Erb has done representing Charles City in regional and state initiatives.

“We’re average to below average. As far as what we get for our money, it’s incredible. Mayor Erb is instrumental,” Diers said.

Personally, Mayor Erb told the council he was fine with the current salary level, Diers added.

The council will continue discussing compensation at the first workshop meeting in 2017, Jan. 11. Any changes to compensation will not be effective until city elections in the fall, Diers said.

-20161216-