After more than 20 years without a raise, the Bemidji City Council will hold a first reading at their Monday meeting of an ordinance to increase pay for the six council members and the mayor.
The council will meet at 7 p.m. in the Bemidji City Hall Council Chambers, 317 Fourth St. N.W. The proposed pay raise is one of several items on the agenda.
Since 1982, City Council members have received an annual salary of $3,900 a year while the mayor has received $4,200 for the two regular council meetings and two commission meetings that are required of councilors each month. They have also received between $25 and $100 per meeting --- depending on the length of the meeting -- per additional meeting.
Under the proposed ordinance, councilors would receive $10,000 and the mayor $12,000 a year. The new policy would eliminate the pay for additional meetings unless they are held out of town.
The Public Affairs Committee, which consists of Councilors Barbara Meuers, Ron Johnson and Roger Hellquist, has been looking into the issue of council pay and recommended the raises.
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Hellquist said the committee reached the proposed figures by looking at an average inflation rate of 4 percent.
"If you take the average rate of inflation and you compound it for 24 years, that's about where you'd end up," he said.
He added that the committee proposed those numbers as a discussion point and that the council might opt to tweak the ordinance at Monday's meeting.
"It's just to get the numbers out in front of the council for discussion," he said.
Hellquist said the committee also looked into the salaries of other councils and commissions in the area. He noted that the Beltrami County commissioners earn more than councilors and they also receive benefits. The Bemidji School Board also earns more, with a salary of $425 a month.
Councilors and mayors in similar-sized northern Minnesota cities make, on average, more than the Bemidji City Councilors. However, the proposed change would put Bemidji's councilors' salaries ahead of most others.
For example, in Brainerd and Fergus Falls, councilors earn $6,600 a year, while the mayor of Brainerd earns $11,700 and mayor of Fergus Falls earns $7,800 a year. In Virginia, councilors earn $3,600 a year and the mayor $6,000. The figures were found on each city's official Web site.
Hellquist noted that each city has a different per diem policy and some cities, unlike Bemidji, provide benefits to its councilors. He said the proposed ordinance would make Bemidji councilors' pay comparable to other cities when those other issues are factored in.
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"This is an issue that has been long neglected," Hellquist said. "It will at some point affect who runs and who doesn't. If people have to take time off from work for council activities, there ought to be on-par reimbursement for that."
If the ordinance passes, it will go into effect Jan. 1, 2007.
Other items on the agenda for Monday's City Council meeting include a first reading on an ordinance to amend the city's industrial zoning classifications, a discussion on interest-based bargaining and a seatbelt enforcement awards presentation by law enforcement.
