Large pay increases proposed for Kent City Council, mayor

Big pay hikes are on the table for Kent City Council members and the mayor.

Council members will get an annual pay boost of $18,828 and the mayor a raise of $29,856 per year under a proposal by the city’s Independent Salary Commission.

The seven council positions are considered part-time jobs, as most members have full-time jobs. They currently receive $17,172 per year. They would get $36,000 per year under the proposal, an 110% increase.

Mayor Dana Ralph gets an annual salary of $168,144 for her full-time position. The proposed boost to $198,000 per year would be an 18% jump.

The three-member Independent Salary Commission agreed on the proposed increases at a Feb. 14 meeting. The members are Chair Julie Miller, Vice Chair Pat Hanis and Commissioner Todd Minor. The council appointed the three to the commission Jan. 17 after what city documents describe as an extensive recruitment process over two months. Miller, Hanis and Minor were the only three who applied.

“Public service is incredibly important to the success of Kent,” according to a statement from the commission. “We understand this proposed schedule includes a large salary increase. However, it is the desire of the commission that salary not be a reason a candidate chooses not to serve their city.”

The council in November 2022 approved the formation of the commission on a controversial 5-2 vote in what it said was an effort to increase pay. Council member Toni Troutner spoke in favor of raises. Marli Larimer and Satwinder Kaur spoke and voted against forming a commission after the council had just approved a status-quo city biennial budget for 2023-2024.

The commission in its statement argued for higher pay for the mayor and council.

“It is our hope that by offering a competitive salary, more community members will be interested in public office and the diversity of our elected officials will continue to increase, and that once in that role, they will be fully committed to their position and serving Kent,” according to the commission.

Residents will get a chance to let the commission know what they think about the proposed salary hikes at a 2 p.m. Monday, March 13 meeting at the city’s Centennial North and Centennial South rooms, 400 W. Gowe St. Commissioners will consider public input and whether to make any changes prior to voting on adoption of the new salaries.

Kent pay vs other cities

City staff provided commissioners with pay for mayors and council members at six similar cities to help them decide levels of pay. Those cities are Everett, Renton, Federal Way, Auburn, Redmond and Marysville. Kent currently ranks fifth among the seven cities in pay to the mayor and seventh in pay to council salaries.

The commission further explained its support of the big salary hikes.

“Kent is one of the most diverse cities in the state and yet its candidate pool for public office has not been as diverse,” according to the statement. “The majority of Kent’s comparable cities are lower in population, employee count and budget than Kent.”

Kent is the largest of the seven cities with a population of 137,900, according to city documents. Everett is next at 113,300 followed by Renton (107,500), Federal Way (101,800), Auburn (88,750), Redmond (75,270) and Marysville (72,380).

The hike of Kent’s mayor salary to $198,000 per year would put it second among the cities, according to city documents. Renton’s mayor is currently the highest paid at $200,172 per year followed by Everett ($194,952), Auburn ($180,852), Federal Way ($180,000), Marysville ($167,544) and Redmond ($144,996).

In comparison to pay by the state of Washington, the governor receives $190,6532 per year, the attorney general $175,274 and the superintendent of Public Instruction $155,678, according to figures set by the Washington Citizens’ Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials. Those salaries are scheduled to increase in July 2023 and again in July 2024.

The pay boost for the council would put Kent higher than any other city at $36,000 per year, according to city documents. Everett’s council is currently the highest paid at $30,132. The other cities are much lower, including Renton ($21,000), Redmond ($18,648), Federal Way ($17,621), Auburn ($17,520) and Marysville ($17,520).

“We are working to catch up for past adjustments that have not kept up with inflation, and we’re also recognizing the work that is required of the position to be informed and successful for Kent,” according to the commission. “These are important roles and this is now a competitive salary.”

Pay for the council president in Kent would jump to $41,400 per year, which would be the highest among the seven cities. Kent is currently the lowest at $18,108 for what some cities label a deputy mayor. Everett is currently the highest at $39,180 followed by Renton ($24,600), Auburn ($23,364), Marysville ($19,704), Redmond ($18,648) and Federal Way ($17,621, same as council pay).

The pay would be retroactive to Jan. 1, 2023. The council and mayor salaries also would get a 2.5% inflation rate boost each year on Jan. 1. The commission also is set to meet each year to decide on salaries. The commission has the authority to increase, decrease or keep pay the same. While increases can happen right away, any decrease in salary will not take effect as to any incumbent until the start of their next term in office.

Once the commission adopts the new pay schedule and the city posts public notice about the proposed ordinance, residents will have 30 days to file a petition with the city clerk for a referendum to put the salaries to a vote by city residents. The petitioner, however, must also collect thousands of signatures (15% of registered voters in the last general election) within 30 days to put the measure to a vote.

Split council vote

Prior to the council’s 5-2 vote in November 2022 to approve forming a commissioner, Troutner made the following comment:

“We don’t do this because we get paid a lot of money, we do it for our city,” Troutner said. “But when you compare our salaries and the mayor’s salary to other cities, we are just up from the bottom. I think it says something if we don’t put value on the work we do. We are not putting ourselves at the same level as other cities.”

Kaur said at the November meeting that with a status-quo budget the next two years and projected budget deficits in the following years, a raise doesn’t seem appropriate.

‘We don’t need to increase our salaries at this point,” Kaur said. “We can wait three or four years to see where the budget is.”

Previous commissions

The council formed a five-member Independent Salary Commission in 2015 to review pay of the mayor and council. That commission approved in 2015 a 35% pay hike for the mayor, which boosted the annual salary to $138,000 per year from $102,192 with an annual 2.5% pay hike that has increased the mayor’s salary to its current $168,144.

Prior to the 35% pay increase, the Kent mayor had the lowest pay among the cities of Everett, Renton, Bellingham, Auburn and Federal Way. The boost put Kent as the third highest salary among the six cities.

As far as council pay, the salary commission raised it 2.5% in 2015 from $13,752 per year and approved the annual 2.5% increases for the council and mayor. Kent’s pay to council members ranked fourth among Everett, Bellingham, Federal Way and Auburn.

Nobody filed a petition with the city clerk to put those increases to a vote by residents.

When the council formed that commission, part of the agreement was it would disband if annual pay increases were included, so the council disbanded the group later in 2015.

Kent also had a salary commission under then-Mayor Jim White, who served from 1994 to 2005. White recommended in the early 2000s to disband the group and the council agreed because the pay raises became so controversial.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with the correct amount of pay for Federal Way City Council members and the deputy mayor, according to Steve Groom, finance director for the city of Federal Way. Groom had provided incorrect numbers in January to the city of Kent, which compiled the comparable salary information.