Spokane City Council members’, mayor’s salaries will stay flat this year, rise 2% next year

The salaries of Spokane City Council members and Mayor Nadine Woodward won’t budge in 2021.

The Salary Review Commission, which sets the pay of the elected officials every two years, ratified its compensation plan on Thursday after first laying it out on Tuesday.

The commission voted unanimously to keep the mayor and council members’ incomes flat in 2021, but give them a 2% pay hike in 2022.

Council members will see their pay increase from $46,700 to $47,624 annually beginning in 2022. The council president, who oversees the council office and its 21 employees, will receive a raise from $62,000 to $63,240.

The mayor will receive a raise from $168,000 to $171,360 in 2022.

The mayor and council members responded to a questionnaire from the Salary Review Commission earlier this month. Woodward did not request a raise, but several members of the council outlined how their workload exceeds a full-time schedule, and argued that the pay is not commensurate with their duties.

The three-member Salary Review Commission acknowledged the council members’ efforts in its debate on Tuesday, but expressed caution about giving out a raise during the COVID-19 pandemic, which is projected to take a hit on the city’s budget.

“I’d like to see Spokane get back on their feet before we put more, additional responsibilities on the taxpayers to support the council,” Dycelia Weiss, chair of the Salary Review Commission, said on Tuesday.

They also noted how the pay of Spokane City Council members compares with their counterparts in the rest of Washington. Currently, only members of the Seattle City Council are paid more than those in Spokane.