KINGMAN – The Kingman City council voted Tuesday to increase pay for future mayors and council members. Vice Mayor Travis Lingenfelter and Council member Jamie Scott Stehly were in the minority of the 5-2 vote.
“I probably won’t have any friends after I say this but I feel that you don’t do this (job) for the money. I know it’s hard work but we don’t do it for the money,” Lingenfelter said. “I think right now our priorities as a city are to find revenue sources for pavement preservation and general funded parks, police and fire and construction projects.”
Lingenfelter said more than a dozen citizens are running for mayor or council seats in the current election cycle, weakening the argument that raises are needed to get more people to seek municipal office.
City attorney Carl Cooper said Kingman hasn’t officially visited compensation rates for Mayor and council members for 20 years and that upward adjustment would put Kingman in the neighborhood of what some other cities are paying. Mayor Jen Miles expressed support for the pay raise proposal.
“I am inclined to go with this adjustment,” Miles said. “It is miniscule when compared to many things, but it does reflect that we certainly value the people that are putting their time in.”
Law prohibits municipal officials from directly approving pay hikes for themselves. Therefore the raises for each position take effect when each position is up at the end of this year or 2022.
Accordingly, annual pay for Kingman mayor will increase from $9,600 to $11,700 and three council spots will be bumped from $6,000 to $8,400 this year. The raise for the three other council positions take effect after the 2020 elections.
- Dave Hawkins
