Do Rochester's elected officials deserve a raise?
Next month’s budget hearing will also include discussion on whether to increase annual compensation for the city’s eight elected officials.
On Monday, the Rochester City Council directed staff to come back on December 2 with an analysis comparing the salaries of the mayor and council with those of elected officials in other Minnesota cities.
As a baseline, staff will also present figures showing what it would cost to pay the mayor 120 percent of the area median income and council members 80 percent AMI. (We did some rough math, and based on our calculations, that would equate to about $86,000 and $58,000, respectively).
Those numbers would represent a significant increase over what the city’s elected officials make today. As it stands now, the mayor’s salary is set at $37,657; the council president makes $27,743 for the year; and the remaining six council members are all paid $21,712 annually.
The reason for the modest wages is that the positions are often thought of as part time — a point noted Monday by Council Member Patrick Keane. He questioned whether the council should consider the part-time designation when deciding on a potential salary increase.
“I think that’s something that the council can decide on,” said Council Member Michael Wojcik, who introduced the motion Monday. “I wanted to get something before the council, and do it in such a way that maximizes the number of people who can see what’s going on in the process.”
Council President Randy Staver was among the six council members who supported moving ahead with the analysis (only Councilor Shaun Palmer voted nay). Staver had one caveat, however; he suggested that Rochester not compare itself with the state’s two largest cities, Minneapolis and St. Paul.
“Other cities like St. Cloud, or some of the other metro cities, are perhaps a bit better fit in terms of comparison,” said Staver.
For its part, St. Cloud (pop. 68,043) pays its mayor about $50,000 annually. Council members take home between $12,500 and $14,000.
The biggest distinction between St. Cloud and Rochester — in addition to Rochester (pop. 116,961) being quite a bit larger — is that St. Cloud operates under a strong mayor system. That means, unlike in Rochester, which operates under a weak mayor system, the mayor there is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of city government.
By comparison, in another strong mayor model, St. Paul (pop. 307,695) pays its mayor $129,000 annually. Members of the council are paid about half that, earning $63,000 per year. Their positions are considered part time.
Minneapolis, though larger in population (425,403), operates, like Rochester, with a weak mayor—strong council. In 2018, the salary for the mayor was about $127,000. Councilors earned just under $100,000.
And perhaps the closest comparison — in Bloomington (pop. 85,578), the mayor’s annual salary and benefits package adds up to about $44,000. Council members there earn approximately $30,000 per year, the most of any city in the metro outside of Minneapolis and St. Paul.
My two cents
No politician wants to be on the record advocating for a salary increase that would benefit them personally. However, discussing the topic — as awkward as it may be — is part of their job description. So, let’s skip the ‘all politicians are crooks’ talking point as we consider whether wage increases make sense on merit alone. To boil this down, I have heard two lines of thinking when it comes to this topic. The first goes like this: setting salaries at a living wage allows for a more diverse and talented group of individuals to come forward and serve their community. Oftentimes in Rochester, elected positions are filled by retirees and/or those with flexibility in their job/home life. The salaries are, generally speaking, not enough for someone to give up their day jobs to pursue a career in public office — especially considering how much is demanded of the positions. Ironically, though, the first part of that point is also the counter-argument to providing full-time salaries. There are concerns that treating the positions as full-time would lead to the kind of partisanship that defines many major American cities. Rather than encouraging civic participation from everyday residents who want to give back to the community, we would have career politicians who are more concerned about getting re-elected than delivering results. In my mind, there is truth to both lines of thinking. If you have any thoughts you want to share on this topic, just head over to our Facebook page and leave a comment below the story. I will publish select comments on this page later in the week.
Reader responses
David L. Another way of thinking of this question: do we want only rich people to be able to serve as mayor or councilmember?
Jennifer W. I'm all for adequately compensating elected officials. But a more than 100% increase is a pretty absurd jump, so it should probably be phased in over over time.
Sara F. Absolutely yes! We need to make it affordable to hold office so we don’t only get those who are retired or wealthy enough to take the job.
Tyler E. Seems just by numbers listed in the article that Rochester falls pretty good in comparison. Why spend money looking any further.
Ben B. Civil servants shouldn’t be able to propose and approve their own raises. Include that on a ballot and let the people make that decision. I’m not opposed to a raise but I don’t believe elected officials should approve their own self interest.
Other items from Monday’s council meetings:
The council discussed potential ways to fill a $1.2 million funding gap for the North Broadway project. That shortfall is the result of pushback from property owners along the corridor, about 70 of whom appealed their initial special assessments. Since then, the city has conducted a benefit appraisal report that lowered the total assessment amount from $3.1 million to $1.9 million. Dillon Dombrovski, a city engineer for Public Works, said the extra due diligence should make it easier for the city to make its case for the assessments. “As we think about being more defensible, we have this report that we can take with us to the district courts if we do have an appeal,” he said. Among the options being considered to cover the shortfall: using federal funds originally designated for the reconstruction of Second Street. However, doing so would likely delay the start of the Broadway project until 2021. The $19.2 million project is largely being funded through a mix of municipal state aid, state DMC money, and utility funds.
The council, without comment, also approved changes to two polling locations ahead of the 2020 elections. Ward 2 Precinct 5 will move from High Point Church to Harriet Bishop School and Ward 6 Precinct 6 will move from Oasis Church to Gage Elementary School. The city worked in partnership with Rochester Public Schools to make the site shifts after learning the original polling places were no longer available. A full list of polling locations can be found here.
If you are still unsure about the city’s new seasonal parking restrictions, this might be the time to get caught up. The council gave the OK on Monday for staff to begin initiating the formal compliance process. The city had been offering a grace period for violators as the new policy took effect. But beginning today, law enforcement will begin leaving warning tickets on vehicles that are not parked in accordance with the alternate side parking requirements. By December 2, those warnings will turn into $25 fines.
Sean Baker is a Rochester journalist and the founder of Med City Beat.
