LOGAN – At a scheduled budget workshop on May 13, members of the Logan Municipal Council heard city staff propose pay increases for elected officials in Fiscal Year 2025-2026, among other issues.
Logan Human Resources Director Ambrie Darley proposed pay increases for the city mayor and elected officials of the city council of roughly 5 percent.
“We want qualified individuals to run for these positions,” Darley said, justifying those proposed pay increases. “So, we want to make the levels of compensation attractive to potential candidates.”
In terms of specifics, the city’s financial staff is proposing that the mayor receive annual compensation of $124,693.40, plus a $6,000 vehicle allowance for travel expenses incurred while on city business.
That would represent a $2,599 increase over the $122,094 salary set for Mayor Holly Daines as of July 1, 2024.
Prior to a compensation vote by council members during 2024, Daines said that she had donated the full amount of the “last couple” of pay raises back to city projects and planned to do so again.
For council members, the new annual salary proposed by Darley was $20,152.43, plus a $300 vehicle allowance.
That would represent a $1,039 increase over the $19,113 salary set for council members as of July 1, 2024.
City Finance Director Richard Anderson said that such incremental compensation increases for elected officials were necessary to catch up with compensation levels for similar officials being offered statewide.
While the proposed compensation increases provoked minimal discussion, Council Chair Jeannie Simmonds nonetheless observed that former council member Tom Jensen had held the line of compensation increases for years with his “no salary increase” votes.
At the first of two budget workshops slated in May, council members also heard a general assessment of budget issues for the upcoming fiscal year from Anderson as well as departmental budget presentations from Russ Akina of the Parks & Recreation Department, Nate Thompson of the Logan City Fire Department and Mike DeSimone of the Community Development Department.