Mayor Scott Higgins and the Camas City Council are in for a pay raise next year.
The Camas Salary Commission voted Thursday to increase the mayor’s and councilors’ monthly stipends and to give Higgins a new optional $200 check for vehicle expenses each month. The raise will be the first for those positions in nearly two decades.
Come Jan. 1, Higgins’s monthly paychecks from the city will increase nearly 70 percent, from $1,300 to $2,200 — a $10,800 raise over the course of the year to $26,400. On top of the base salary and the vehicle stipend, Higgins also has the option of accepting a $75 check each month for cellphone and Internet use.
Camas council members get a $500 check each month, and an optional $25 technology stipend — each has the chance to use a city-issued iPad. At the New Year, their salaries will increase some 50 percent to about $9,000 a year.
In all, the increases will cost the city about $34,000 a year.
The city began paying its mayors and councilors in 1962. Current pay rates for the positions were set back in 1997, when Camas’ population was less than half of what it is today and the state minimum wage was $4.90 an hour.
The commission compared pay rates for Camas officials with those in other Washington cities with populations between 15,000 and 50,000. In that group, mayoral salaries range from as little as $9,600 in Bonney Lake to more than $115,000 in Edmonds.
At his current salary, Higgins is the third-highest-paid mayor in Clark County, falling behind Vancouver Mayor Tim Leavitt and Washougal Mayor Sean Guard. In January, Higgins will move ahead of Guard to become the second-highest-paid mayor in the county.
Ridgefield proposal
Meanwhile, the city of Ridgefield is also preparing to give its elected officials a pay bump. Its salary commission’s proposal would also change the officials’ pay structure.
Under the current system, councilors earn $50 per meeting, with a maximum of $3,000 a year. The mayor is also paid per meeting and can make up to $6,000 a year.
With the new structure, councilors would make $375 a month — up to $4,500 a year. And the mayor would get $750 a month for an annual pay of $9,000.
If approved, the changes would take effect in January, and would be the first raise for Ridgefield’s mayor and councilors since 2003. The Ridgefield Salary Commission will meet Tuesday for a final decision on the raises.
