Glendale Voters To Decide Pay Hikes For Mayor, Council

Published: Friday, July 19, 2019 - 1:22pm
Christina Estes/KJZZ

Voters in Glendale will decide whether elected officials should get hefty pay raises.

The City Council created a five-member commission to review their pay and make recommendations. Earlier this month, the commission recommended raises — more than 40% for the mayor and more than 50% for council members.

“We are all in agreement that you need a raise,” Tom Traw, commission member, told the council. "It’s been 13 years. A long time. Everybody else gets raises. Why should not the council and mayor?”

The last time mayor and council member salaries were reviewed was in 2005. That led to an increase, which has remained today: $34,000 annual salary for each council member, and $48,000 for the mayor. Elected officials are also eligible for medical, dental and vision care, pension, and cellphone allowances.

The council voted to send the commission’s salary recommendation to voters on Nov. 5.

If voters approve, a formula will be used to boost each council member’s pay to $52,685 and the mayor’s pay to $68,490. The increases would take effect Jan. 1. Going forward, pay for council members would be set at 1% less than the city’s median annual salary, while the mayor’s salary would be 30% higher.

According to research compiled by the city’s compensation commission, Phoenix’s mayor has the highest annual salary across the Valley at $87,998, followed by Mesa at $73,545 and Tempe at $59,472. Current pay for council members is highest in Phoenix at $61,599, followed by Mesa at $40,582 and Glendale at $34,000. Some council positions across the Valley are considered part time, and members have outside jobs. Glendale does not list its positions as full or part time.

People who want to submit ballot arguments for or against the pay recommendation can submit a written statement of no more than 300 words. Arguments must be emailed to the City Clerk’s Office no later than 5 p.m. on Aug. 7. Each filed argument requires a $100 deposit. More information can be found here.