An edition of the Littleton Independent
WEEK OF DECEMBER 28, 2023
VOLUME 23 | ISSUE 4
Centennial City Council votes to increase members’ pay after studying what other metro area councilors earn BY TAYLER SHAW TSHAW@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
The members of the Centennial City Council are going to get a bump in pay after the city looked at what other city councilors in the metro area earn. Centennial City Council members will see their salaries rise by $4,000 a year starting in 2026. That means each member will receive $16,000 a year when the increase goes into effect two years from now. The mayor will receive more compensation, seeing an increase from the current $16,008 to $20,008 a year in 2026. And, the mayor pro tem’s annual compensation will go from $13,008 to $17,008 in 2026. The city’s staff suggested delaying the increase in pay. Wyatt Peterson, senior strategic advisor for Centennial, said at a recent council meeting that elected officials cannot vote to modify their compensation during their current term of office. “Technically, it could increase in 2024, but that would mean that four council members waiting out their term have the same level of … compensation, while the other four have increased compensation,” Peterson said.
In the interest of fairness, the city’s staff recommended 2026 as the effective date for the increase and members of the council agreed. Starting in 2027, and every four years afterward, the council will review elected officials’ compensation to determine if any changes are needed. The last time the council approved a pay increase for its members was in 2013. That increase took effect in 2016. “I was one of the people that brought this up in 2013,” Mayor Stephanie Piko said. “A big part of that was because it takes so long to go into effect.” Piko said the compensation increase is not out of line. “It is fair for, I guess what maybe some might say the expectation is for what we’re doing,” she said. “But it also isn’t — it’s not incentivising anybody to run for council just for the money.” So, how do other city councils compare? Many city council members across the metro area have full-time jobs or other sources of income. Their pay is seen as compensation for their roles in serving their cities and constituents.
VOICES: 12 | LIFE: 14 | CALENDAR: 17
Centennial city staff conducted an analysis of 10 other city councils in the Denver area. The highest salary they reviewed is for the mayor of Lakewood, who makes $38,800, according to a Centennial staff report. Lakewood’s council members don’t even earn half what the mayor makes. They’re each paid $15,456 a year. Greenwood Village has the secondhighest mayoral salary on the list at $36,000. It pays $18,000 a year to its council members. Englewood’s mayor earns the least of the cities studied, at $10,800 a year. The mayor pro tem gets $10,200 and the council members get $9,600. Council members in Lone Tree are paid the lowest of those studied. They earn $8,811, but the mayor there is paid $13,207 a year. Other municipalities in the study included Arvada, Littleton, Longmont, Parker, Thornton and Westminster. Based on Centennial’s analysis, the average salary for mayors is $20,850 a year. The average for a mayor pro tem is $14,791. And, for council members, the average is $13,904 a year.
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