Portland’s Independent Salary Commission has scaled back a plan to significantly increase the annual pay for the city’s elected officials.
The commission approved a final salary structure Monday night that will see city commissioners paid $133,000 annually beginning in 2025 when Portland switches to a new form of government and triples the size of the City Council.
The city currently pays $127,000 annually to its four City Council members, who are elected citywide and directly oversee a handful of city bureaus.
Under a previous proposal, the commission had suggested paying City Council members $142,000 when the council expands to 12 members, who will be elected from geographic districts covering one-quarter of the city and will no longer oversee any bureaus.
The five-person panel, appointed earlier this year, proposed the higher salary after considering what a “thriving wage” in the city would be for a single parent with one child. However, the commission tamped back that proposal after taking into account the amount the city pays to provide medical benefits.
The commission did not make any changes to its recommendation for the salaries of the mayor and auditor.
Portland currently pays its mayor $152,000 and its city auditor $125,000. Under the commission’s recommendation, those annual salaries will increase to a minimum of $175,000 and $169,000 respectively.
Multilingual elected officials may also be able to qualify for additional pay through the city’s Language Access Program.
The commission will issue a final report after its Aug. 22 meeting, at which point the new salary structure will be set. The City Council does not need to approve the plan, a system set in place so that elected officials aren’t involved in setting their own salaries.
After initial salaries are set for 2025, a salary commission overseen by the Portland Bureau of Human Resources will meet every two years to set and evaluate salaries for all elected positions.
Shane Dixon Kavanaugh of The Oregonian/OregonLive contributed to this report
— Jamie Goldberg; jgoldberg@oregonian.com; 503-221-8228; @jamiebgoldberg
Our journalism needs your support. Please become a subscriber today at OregonLive.com/subscribe
