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HomeMy WebLinkAbout022304 MINUTES DRAFT Citizens’ Commission on Council Salaries Tel 360-473-5926 Fax 360-473-2333 239 4th Street Bremerton, WA 98337 MINUTES 2/23/04 Meeting/Study Session PRESENT: Chair Jan Hillman, Mariwyn Tinsley, Alan Strange, HR Analyst-Charlotte Belmore, Assistant City Treasurer-Cathy Johnson Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 5:30 PM. Election of Chairperson: Jan Hillman was re-elected as Chairperson M/S/C/U (Tinsley/Strange) Approval of Minutes: M/S/C/U (Tinsley/Hillman) Discussion on Council Salaries and the Survey Results: After discussion the Commission felt the salaries for Council Members are in line with what other cities are paying and that the Council President’s stipend of $50.00 dollars a month was low for the additional duties and time the position requires. Jan Hillman asked about what appeared to be new revenue in the amount of $62,427 for the 2004 City Council budget. Cathy Johnson explained that it is new revenue. She stated that the City traditionally charges Public Works for general government services and that they had not charged Council in the past. After reevaluating the General Fund it was determined that City Council does provide a service to Public Works and should be charge for the services. They discussed increasing the Council President’s stipend to be more comparable with what others cities are paying, which is about $200 to $250 a month. They felt the increase should be phased in over time. They discussed increasing it an additional $50.00 dollars a month next year, which would increase the Council President’s stipend to $100.00 a month starting on January 1, 2005. Mariwyn moved that they look at increasing the president’s stipend from $50.00 dollars a month to $100.00. Alan strange stated that the Council President has been under paid for many years and he felt that the Council President’s stipend should be increased by $75.00 per month. After further discussion on whether the $50.00 dollar increase was enough, the Commission decided that it would be a step towards bringing the Council President’s stipend more in line with what other cities are paying and that next year they would look at increasing it again. Jan Hillman seconded Mariwyn’s motion to look at increasing the Council President’s stipend to $100.00. The Commission requested that a draft ordinance increasing the Council President’s stipend to $100.00 per month be prepared for the next Public Hearing.  Page 2 February 23, 2004 Open for Public Input: Del Knauss – “First, I would like to correct something that was stated by the Commission, that is not a new revenue source. That is our excise tax that they raised everybody in Bremerton to come up with $350,000.00 to balance the General Fund. So every time we do something, that has the potential of going up again. That’s what we pay on our utility bills. That’s how they had to balance the General Fund this year is tax the citizens’ excises taxes on your water, storm water, and sewer. The next thing I wanna say is we have a Council President this year and he is a good guy, but he works full time. He has to delegate most of his meetings to other Council Members. So he’s not doing all of the extra duties your quoting there, it’s delegated out to the other people who aren’t getting compensated for it. And, I wanna remind the pay commission the Council this year froze all department heads pay raises, if I’m correct on that, and immediate people working underneath them. Froze their pay and now we’re looking at giving them a pay raise. They also, as I said early, raised our utility taxes to balance this budget. Next they had cut the Mayor’s staff and his budget so they could balance it. I just do not feel it will look right to the public when you froze your department heads pay, the people immediately one underneath them, you slashed the Mayor’s budget, you cut one person out of that and I believe a P.R. person out of that budget. To turn around and give the Council President a pay raise this year. And, believe me; we had, the President prior I know how many meetings she went to. But right now, and that’s where you have to be careful on setting this Presidents pay. Most the duties right now, because he works full time, it’s not his fault, are delegated to other members of the Council. So combined with the freezes they did to the department heads and people underneath them, the cuts to the Mayor’s staff, and remind you that this is not a new revenue source over there that’s how they balanced it. It was included into the Council budget to balance the budget out. That all came from the people’s excise taxes. That’s the only way they could balance the budget this year.” The Commission asked that a list of the tasked that the Council President has delegated be prepared for the next Public Hearing. Closed to Public Comment: Schedule Additional Meetings: It was decided that the Commission would hold Public Hearings, in the City Council Chambers at 5:30 PM, on the following dates:  Monday, March 22, 2004  Monday, April 19, 2004  Monday April 26, 2004 Meeting Adjourned: 5:58 PM