Bellevue Elected Officials Get First Pay Raise In 16 Years

BELLEVUE, WA - The city's new Salary Commission has decided to give some local elected officials their first raise in 16 years.

Each member of the City Council, the mayor, and the deputy mayor will get a raise. The Council formed the Salary Commission - comprised of five city residents appointed by Mayor John Stokes - in October, and the commission met a handful of times to decide whether to increase elected officials' pay.

"As it’s been 16 years since salaries were adjusted for Council members, the new salary averages out to be an increase of 2.64 percent per year," Bellevue Chief Communications Officer Lenka Wright told Patch.com.

Here are the new pay rates for elected officials:

According to the city, the Salary Commission considered two factors when deciding whether to give the elected officials a raise: the amount of time that has passed since the last raise, and cost of living (COLA) increases that other city workers get. COLA increases are pegged to inflation, which usually rises about 2 percent per year.

Image via Flickr user JMV