Peabody Mayor Ted Bettencourt Approved For Pay Bump To $135K Annually

PEABODY, MA — Peabody Mayor Ted Bettencourt has approved for a 7.14 percent pay increase to $135,000 a year in a move that City Councilor Thomas Gould said will bring the mayoral salary closer to that of neighboring cities and towns on the North Shore.

The previous salary for the office was $126,000 per year.

"Mayor Bettencourt deserves credit for getting us through COVID," said Gould, who made the motion for the salary increase. "It was a difficult time. Approximately one-fifth of all Massachusetts mayors retired during COVID. We've weathered the financial storm and reserves are back to a level not seen since 2017 and 2018. The mayor's focus has been on infrastructure and supporting our schools along with downtown."

Gould noted that Bettencourt declined raises in 2012, 2013, 2017, 2019 and 2021.

He said this lifts the salary for Bettencourt more in line with Salem ($150,000), Beverly ($145,000), Lynn ($145,000), and the town managers of Danvers and Lynnfield, whom Gould said each earn more than $200,000 per year.

"Keep in mind that the action we take here will affect future mayors — not just Mayor Bettencourt," Gould said.

The proposed increase passed the City Council of a Whole vote by 8-0 with two councilors voting "present." The vote was identical in the full City Council later that evening.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)