There is created a city council salary commission ("commission"), which shall consist of three members who are residents and registered voters of the city, which shall be charged with setting the salaries of the mayor pro-tem and members of the city council (hereinafter collectively referred to as the "council"). Each member of the commission shall be appointed by the mayor, with the approval of the city council. Prior to consideration for appointment, each candidate shall complete an application form as required by the city council, which shall be reviewed by the mayor and city council prior to appointment to the commission.
(Ord. 3050 § 1, 2018; Ord. 3233 § 1, 2024)
"Salary" or "salaries,"
as used in this chapter, means any fixed compensation paid periodically for work or services. This definition expressly excludes the total cost of any medical or other benefits provided to the council, and any expenses paid or reimbursed on behalf of the council in accordance with Chapter 2.08.
(Ord. 3050 § 2, 2018)
Officers, officials, and employees of the city and their immediate family members shall not be eligible to serve on the commission. For the purposes of this section, "immediate family member" shall mean a parent, stepparent, in-law, spouse, sibling, stepsibling, child, stepchild, or dependent relative of the officer, official, or employee, whether or not living in the household of the officer, official, or employee.
(Ord. 3050 § 3, 2018)
A. 
Each member of the commission shall serve a four-year term, and no member shall be appointed to more than two terms. The terms of the initial commission shall be comprised of two members who shall each serve a four-year term, and one member who will serve a two-year term. At the expiration of such initial terms, their successors shall each serve four-year terms.
B. 
Commission members may only be removed during their terms of office for cause of incapacity, ineligibility pursuant to Section 2.09.030, incompetence, neglect of duty, malfeasance in office, or for a disqualifying change in residence or voter status.
(Ord. 3050 § 4, 2018)
A. 
The commission shall meet on an as-needed basis. Meetings may be scheduled by the chair of the commission or by a majority vote of the commission. At least one of the meetings shall include a public hearing to provide an opportunity for the public and the council to address the commission.
B. 
All meetings shall be open to the public, and shall be held in the same location as that of regularly scheduled city council meetings, unless the public notice for any meeting specifies another location.
C. 
The decision to raise or lower salaries shall be by a decision of a majority of the commission, provided such majority must be a number at least as large as the majority of total commission positions.
D. 
Prior to a commission vote to raise or lower salaries, citizens of the city shall have an opportunity to comment or submit comments in writing. Citizen comments shall be conducted in a manner consistent with those heard at regularly scheduled meetings of the city council.
E. 
Prior to a commission vote to raise or lower salaries, the commission may request additional financial information and other relevant data, other than that information provided in subsection F of this section, from the city administrator, who shall be responsible for providing staff support to the commission personally or upon delegation to an outside agent retained to provide such support.
F. 
The city administrator may provide the commission with and the commission may consider information regarding salaries paid to the council from comparable cities.
(Ord. 3050 § 5, 2018)
A. 
A decision by the commission to raise or lower the salary of the council shall be final, shall be filed with the city clerk, and shall be incorporated into the city budget without further action of the city council or commission. Any change of salary by the commission shall supersede any ordinance or resolution in effect at the time the salaries are changed but only to the extent of such conflict.
B. 
Subject to procedures for referendum described in subsection D of this section, salary increases established by the commission shall immediately be applied to the salaries of the council, regardless of the remaining portion of their term of office.
C. 
Subject to procedures for referendum described in subsection D of this section, salary decreases established by the commission shall not be applied to the salaries of the council until the commencement of their next term of office.
D. 
Salary increases and decreases shall be subject to referendum petition by the people of the city in the same manner and in accordance with the procedures provided for in RCW Title 35A. The referendum petition shall be filed with the city clerk within thirty days after the filing of the salary schedule. In the event of the filing of a valid referendum petition, the salary increase or decrease shall not go into effect until approved by vote of the people. Referendum measures under this section shall be submitted to the voters of the city at the next following general or municipal election occurring thirty days or more after the petition is filed, and shall be otherwise governed by the provisions of the State Constitution or laws generally applicable to referendum measures.
(Ord. 3050 § 6, 2018)
The provisions of this chapter are hereby declared to be severable. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of this chapter or its application to any person or circumstance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional, the remainder of this chapter shall not as a result of said section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase be held unconstitutional or invalid.
(Ord. 3050 § 7, 2018)