Applauds Fagan for leading cost-of-government discussion
Brian Coddington, Communications Director, 509.625.6740
Wednesday, October 15, 2014 at 4:36 p.m.
Spokane Mayor David Condon will decline the salary increase mandated by the 2011 voter-approved City Charter amendment as a show of support for a community discussion about the cost of City government.
Councilmember Mike Fagan will host a public forum on Nov. 14 at 10 a.m. in the City Council Briefing Center to address the topic. Condon supports the discussion as part of an ongoing dialogue about keeping City government affordable to those it serves. He intends to honor a pledge to donate $1,000 from his current salary to each of the remaining upcoming multicultural heritage months.
“We strive every day to keep City government affordable,” Condon said. “The budget we have proposed makes us safer, stronger and smarter. We ask ourselves every day, ‘Is what we are proposing affordable?’ A community conversation about the cost of government is a very timely and appropriate way to be accountable.”
The 2015 budget proposed by the mayor includes $1.7 million in contractual wage increases. Cost of living increases resulting from labor agreements account for approximately $1 million of that total. Contractual step and longevity increases make up the balance.
Proposed increases to the salaries of the mayor, council president, City Council members, police chief and fire chief are cost of living increases that are included in the proposed 2015 budget. Four members of the mayor’s Cabinet are among the nearly 300 City employees who are due step increases. Those increases are included in the budget proposal.
Voters approved an amendment to the City Charter in August 2011 setting the mayor’s salary equivalent to the highest paid City employee. The Salary Review Commission recommended a raise for City Council members last spring.
