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SALT LAKE CITY — Cindy Gust-Jenson, the Salt Lake City Council's longtime executive director, said in her 30-plus years of experience with the city, she knows how touchy the topic of self-enacted pay raises can be to council members.
"This is the least favorite topic of any elected official," Gust-Jenson said as a preface to a discussion about a possible Salt Lake City Council member pay increase in Tuesday's council meeting.
And that's why, Gust-Jenson said, the council's compensation has over the years gradually lost pace compared with the mayor's full-time pay, according to a recent salary survey conducted by city council staff.
Now before the Salt Lake City Council is a proposal to increase council members' individual annual pay from about $26,000 each to potentially about $35,700, depending on what pay structure is favored by council members.
"You could tell us to take a hike and say, 'Thanks but no thanks,'" Gust-Jenson told the council, but she noted that the council's work has evolved over the years and the argument could be made the current pay rate hasn't kept pace with the demands of the job, and perhaps could block regular Joes from serving on the council if they can't afford to take time away from their day jobs.
Expressing concerns about limiting access to Salt Lake City's legislative body, the Salt Lake City Council gingerly discussed the possibility of giving themselves a pay raise after Gust-Jenson's report Tuesday.
Though it's not yet clear exactly what council members will do, those who spoke Tuesday were supportive of a pay increase, including Salt Lake City Council Chairwoman Erin Mendenhall.
"I know that a value of our council and this city is diversity," Mendenhall said. "And yet, we may inadvertently be limiting the pool of people, limiting the diversity that can access (these positions)."
Mendenhall noted that she's been told by people in her district who have been interested in serving on the council that they realized their families couldn't afford the time commitments away from their regular work.
"I think it's important in terms of access to democracy — serving in this office — that we make it more accessible," Mendenhall said.
Mendenhall thanked Gust-Jenson for providing context to the "awkwardness of the political conversations of adjusting one's own pay." Mendenhall also noted that as she reviewed the Council office's budget this year, she saw an "opportunity" for a pay increase without upping the office's existing budget.
Gust-Jenson in her report to the council noted the council's positions were intended to be "truly part-time," originally set to be 25 percent of the mayor's salary, with the expectation council members would meet roughly 10 hours per week in the evenings. Since then, evening meetings have been replaced with all-day meetings that extend to the evening, requiring more time away from full-time jobs.
In 1980, council members started making about $9,700 each, compared to the mayor's $39,000 — a 4-to-1 ratio. Since then, both salaries have increased over time to about $26,000 for council members and $143,700 for the mayor in 2018, a more than 5-to-1 ratio, according to council staff's analysis
Gust-Jenson said past councils have agreed to increases to the mayor's salary as a full-time position, but not to an increase to themselves, so the mayor's salary has increased at a rate 97 percent faster than the council's.
As a comparison, Gust-Jenson said staff checked with the Salt Lake County Council's compensation: about $40,000 a year, which is more than $14,000 more than Salt Lake City Council's compensation.
Several City Council members on Tuesday remained silent about the potential of a pay raise, but no one spoke against it. Councilman Andrew Johnston noted he's "sensitive to the nature" of the issue, as well as any unintended consequences of keeping pay low, including potentially blocking average people from serving on the council.
The issue is scheduled to come before the council on Dec. 11. Mendenhall urged Salt Lake City residents to come to a public hearing that day to share their thoughts.
