Should Council concur with the recommendation, a motion would be in order to waive the procedure for a second reading and pass the ordinance amending § 30.05 of the City Code increasing the salary for the Mayor and Councilmembers effective January 1, 2017, and January 1, 2018, and authorizing payment of a monthly technology stipend for the Mayor and Councilmembers effective January 1, 2017.

On a periodic basis, we evaluate the salary provided to the Mayor and Council as compared to other similar cities in the Metropolitan area.  This data was provided to the Mayor and Council some weeks ago with the recommendation that we consider increasing Mayor and Council salaries as it appears we are falling behind in comparison with our peer communities.  Attached please find an ordinance amendment for your consideration on February 25, 2016, that increases the Mayor and Council salaries by 2.5% in both 2017 and 2018.

Annually, the League of Minnesota Cities (LMC) conducts an elected official’s salary survey.  Based on this and other reported data, staff has prepared three separate rankings for 2015 based on Population, Mayor Salary, and Councilmember Salary for cities with populations between 25,000 and 100,000 (see attached).

Population - According to the 2015 data, Apple Valley ranks 13th in terms of population out of the 27 reporting cities. Apple Valley’s population of 50,330 is slightly larger than the LMC survey population average of 49,377.

Mayor Salary - Apple Valley ranks 16th out of the 27 cities surveyed. The 2015 Apple Valley Mayor salary of $11,496 is 8% below the reported average Mayor salary of $12,391.72.

Councilmember Salary - Apple Valley ranks 18th out of the 27 cities surveyed. The 2015 Apple Valley Councilmember salary of $8,232 is 12% below the reported average Councilmember salary of $9,241.39.

As we have discussed in the past, it is recommended that we move to a monthly stipend for our elected officials to help cover the cost of owning mobile devices to conduct city-related business and to access City Council, commission and committee meeting information via the internet.  Currently some Councilmembers are choosing to use their own devices at their own expense, while others are using borrowed City-issued devices.  To be more equitable, it is suggested that each elected official receive a $50 per month technology allowance stipend.  The attached ordinance amendment implements this stipend beginning in January 2017.

By state law, any approved compensation increase would have to wait until after the next general municipal election to become effective.  As we have done in the past, the attached ordinance amendment would adjust the elected official compensation for the following two consecutive years, in this case 2017 and 2018.  As an ordinance amendment, a first and second reading would be required, unless the Council chooses to waive the second reading.