News The salaries of future mayors and City Council members could be the latest numbers to be reduced in Washougal.
The city’s Salary Commission has recommended the mayor’s salary be reduced from $2,000 a month to $1,800. The recommendation for council members is a reduction from $500 a month to $450.
Salary Commission Chairman Chuck Carpenter said the commission looked at data – such as budget, assessed valuation and size of staff – from Washington cities of a similar size, in order to determine salary levels in Washougal.
“In looking at the data, we found that to be comparable we would need to reduce the salary paid to our elected officials,” he said. “In view of the current economy and the austere budget that the city is facing, we felt that it would be proper to not only meet the ‘averages’ of the other cities, but to tighten the belt when it comes to elected official salaries.”
The ordinance that created the commission four years ago mandates that any salary reductions become effective after the completion of city leaders’ current terms of office.
