Littleton considers changing pay for mayor, council

BY NINA JOSS NJOSS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Littleton city council members, who have been paid the same standing stipend since 2015, may see a change to their compensation starting after the 2025 election.

During a June 20 study session, sta presented a possible payment scheme based on percentage of area median income, or AMI, as opposed to a stand- ing stipend. ey also presented options for what it could look like if city council members were o ered health insurance plans through the city. e discussion began in April, when councilmembers expressed interest in increasing the compensation for the person serving as mayor and linking other council members’ salaries to a percentage of AMI.

“As I’ve been chatting with other mayors and councilmembers from around the region, I think a lot of cities are taking a look at this, trying to gure out how to make equitable compensation to get people involved,” Mayor Kyle Schlachter said during the rst conversation.

Current compensation

Current monthly salaries for council members varies slightly based on position, with the mayor earning $1,350 per month, the mayor pro tem earning $1,225 and other council members making $1,100, according to city documents.

Annually, these numbers come out to be $16,200 for the mayor, $14,700 for the mayor pro tem and $13,200 for other council members.

Per the city charter, monthly salaries for the elected board are set by ordinance. ey cannot, however, be increased during the current term of council members enacting the ordinance – any changes made by the city’s current council would go into e ect for future councils.

Compensation based on AMI e sta presentation on June 20 o ered one possibility of new salary options, calculating the numbers as percentages of AMI. e mayor’s salary would be 50%, mayor pro tem’s would be 30% and council members’ would be 25% of the geographic region’s AMI. ere was some conversation about whether the calculations were based on the correct AMI.

Based on the typical income established by sta during the meeting, the hypothetical new salaries showed an increase of over $9,000 for year for the mayor, about $650 for the mayor pro tem and a decrease of about $400 for other council members.

Director of Human Resources e group decided to continue the conversation regarding the philosophy of basing council salaries o of AMI, noting that they would verify the exect numbers later.

Tracy Hooker told e Littleton Independent the city is discussing the most appropriate baseline data to use in the council compensation discussion going forward. If the city decides to use a di erent AMI number, the salary change to each council position would be di erent from the numbers presented in the meeting.

Schlachter said linking salaries to AMI would make it so future councils don’t have to address compensation. Instead, the money they make will increase with in ation each year.

When he saw the hypothetical salaries presented by sta , Schlachter said he did not like the idea of lowering any current compensation numbers.

“ e one thing I won’t support is a pay decrease for council,” he said. “With the amount of work everyone does, it’s, you know, should be compensated better.”

District 3 Councilmember Stephen Barr said he would be OK if the council members’ stipends decreased.

“I think it’s actually more representative of the body we represent to tie it to AMI, and honestly, the numbers up there are not, like, frighteningly di erent,” he said, adding that the mayor’s salary was the only one with a large di erence.

District 1 Councilmember Pat Driscoll said he is concerned about linking council compensation to AMI.

“ is idea of a raise, a raise, a raise, a raise every year – I mean, we’re just putting ourselves in a position,” he said. “I think that can get us in trouble down the road … You start throwing these percentages out there and all of a sudden your council members are making 25 grand a year and you’re going, ‘OK, is that what this is meant to do?’”

District 2 Councilmember Jerry Valdes said he thinks the mayor deserves a raise, but all other salaries should stay the same as they are now.

Council directed sta to verify AMI numbers and lay out an option that would change the percentages so

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Health insurance

Hooker also presented two main options for health insurance setups for city councilmembers. In one, the city would contribute to the premium as an employer. In the other option, council members would foot the entire premium.

Councilmembers Pam Grove, Kelly Milliman, and Driscoll supported the option that puts 100% of the premium costs on the councilmembers. Grove said she is against the employee contributing because, in essence, a councilmember who enrolls in the bene t would get more total compensation than those who do not enroll.

“It’s an o er,” Barr responded. “Anyone could take it, and you can turn it down.”

Valdes said he would prefer no health care option be o ered at all, but he would consider the option in which the city does not contribute.

“Being on council is something you want to do for your city, not what the city is going to do for you as a council member,” he said.

Schlachter, Barr and Rydin said they support having a health insurance option and having the employer contribute to premiums.

“I think (a health insurance option) can attract some other folks who wouldn’t be able to do this work otherwise, especially if they’re in a part-time position in other jobs or not working in other capacities so I think that could be useful,” Rydin said.

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