Valley pay hike in works

Spokane Valley City Council members and mayor are on track to more than double their salaries.

Unless citizens oppose the new salaries, the mayor’s monthly pay will increase to $1,200 from $500, the deputy mayor will receive $1,000 rather than $400, and the five other council members will earn $900 instead of $400.

An independent five-person commission filed the new salary schedule Monday. Since June, it has studied the wages and council responsibilities in 10 Washington cities, gathered input from citizens and asked council members about their work.

“The salary commission was surprised to discover how much time the mayor and council spend on city business,” the report says. “They were not alone. As they spoke with members of the community, the commission found that in general, citizens are unaware of the amount of time involved in being a city of Spokane Valley elected official.”

The commission found that Mayor Mike DeVleming devotes 30 to 32 hours per week to council commitments and spends another 10 to 20 hours a month at ribbon cuttings, graduations and other events. The other council members said they put in 18 to 45 hours per week for council business and five to 80 hours per month for other events.

On average, Washington cities with populations between 40,000 and 145,000 that operate under a council-manager form of government pay their mayors $1,223 a month, their deputy mayors $954 and their council members $925, the commission found.

Only four people attended the commission’s four meetings. The city received 25 letters and phone calls about the proposed change – 18 of which were against an increase and seven of which supported it. All 35 people who filled out a survey supported a salary increase.

The public has until Sept. 10 to file a petition with the city clerk against the salaries, which would force a public vote in November.

If no petition is filed, the council will see a bump in their paychecks next month.