The Clark Public Utilities Board of Commissioners on Tuesday voted unanimously to approve an annual salary of $255,000 for the utility’s general manager, Wayne Nelson. That’s up 4 percent from $245,000.
The salary increase came during the board’s regular public meeting, at which it also approved largely status quo electric and water system budgets for 2015. Those adopted budgets included no rate increases.
In a news release Tuesday, the utility said that, based on multiple surveys of executive salaries at comparable utilities in the region and the U.S., commissioners decided to increase Nelson’s salary.
Commissioner Byron Hanke, the utility board’s president, said Nelson, the utility’s general manager since January 1999, is “leading a lean staff that continues to maximize savings and manage risk while also embracing new technologies and opportunities.”
The utility said Nelson’s new salary remains below the midpoint of the salary range established for his position. In addition to the salary increase, the utility board approved the conversion of 100 hours of accumulated sick leave to annual leave. Nelson’s car allowance of $400 per month remains unchanged.
Commissioners have approved salary increases for Nelson every year since 2011, following a voluntary wage freeze.
Meanwhile, the board unanimously approved an electric system budget of $367.8 million for 2015. That compares with a 2014 budget of $367.5 million. For the water system, the board adopted a $16.53 million budget for 2015. That compares with a budget of $16.37 million in 2014.
Clark Public Utilities, a customer-owned utility, provides electric service to more than 189,000 customers in Clark County. It also provides water service to about 30,000 homes and businesses in the Hazel Dell, Salmon Creek, Lake Shore, Hockinson, Brush Prairie, La Center, Meadow Glade, Amboy and Yacolt areas.
