Kent mayor to get $35,808 pay hike to $138,000 per year

Kent Mayor Suzette Cooke is scheduled to get a 35-percent pay jump to $138,000 per year after the city’s Independent Salary Commission approved the raise by a 4-1 vote.

Cooke now receives $102,192 per year, which ranks last among comparable cities of Everett, Renton, Auburn, Bellingham and Federal Way. The $35,808 annual pay hike, to be implemented in July, would put her third among those cities, right behind the Renton mayor at $138,545 per year. The mayor’s new rate of pay goes to $66.35 per hour from $49.13 per hour.

“The commissioners felt the approved salary is appropriate for a mayor of a city the size of Kent, based on its population, revenue and role in the region,” said Commission Chairman Greg Haffner in a Wednesday email about the June 4 vote.

Commissioners Haffner, Mizanur Rahman, Coreen Jones and Kelly Beckley voted for the pay hike. Mason Hudson opposed it. Haffner said Hudson wanted the increase phased in over at least the next three years.

“Much of the discussion focused on whether to make the increase effective all at once or over a few years,” Haffner said. “We agreed it was a significant increase to make all at once, but given the fact there has been no increase for 10 years, and the amounts paid to other mayors in the region, the other four commissioners agreed it was appropriate to increase the salary to the proposed level immediately, rather than over time.”

The mayor also will receive an annual salary increase of 2.5 percent each January.

Cooke appointed the five-member salary commission earlier this year and the City Council approved the appointments. The council formerly had the power to give itself and the mayor pay increases, but hasn’t done so for at least 10 years. The board has the power to change salaries and benefits and what it decides will be part of the city budget.

The commission will file its salary schedule with the city clerk. Once that becomes official, a resident can within 30 days file a referendum petition to put the pay increase to the voters if enough signatures of registered voters can be submitted. The salary hike then would not go into effect unless approved at the referendum election.

Commissioners are expected later this month to vote on pay increases for the part-time council members. They are paid $13,752 per year. The council president, a two-year term, gets $14,496 a year.

Commissioners expect residents to be split about the high pay raise.

“We anticipate there will be criticism for our decision regarding the mayor’s salary, but I also believe many in the community will appreciate the need for the city’s top elected official to be adequately compensated to attract people with the skills required of such a position to consider running for the office,” Haffner said.

Cooke, in her 10th year as mayor, has said she will not run again when her term ends in two years.

Commissioners did not make any changes to the mayor’s benefits, which they said are similar to the mayors in comparable cities.

The mayor gets $7,332 in medical, dental and vision coverage each year or about $611 per month for her individual coverage. She, just as other city employees, has use of the city’s vehicle fleet to travel to events and meetings. She is part of the state retirement system. The city pays $9,625 each year into the state program. Cooke pays a portion into the fund as well.

Based on her current pay, Cooke is lined up to receive a cash buyout of $19,652 when her term ends, with $11,791 for her 240 hours of unused vacation time based on mayor’s hourly rate of $49.13. She receives 144 hours of vacation time per year and has accrued 385 hours. Employees cannot start a year with more than 240 hours of vacation time.

The other $7,860 of the cash payout is from her management benefits hours, capped at a maximum of 160 hours and paid out based on hourly rate. The pay raise jumps her hourly rate to $66.35, which would increase her potential cash payout to more than $26,000.