Moses Lake discusses ending per-meeting stipend for elected officials

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake City Council on Tuesday will discuss whether to stop paying a per-meeting stipend to the mayor, deputy mayor and council members, according to the council’s meeting agenda.

City code mandates the stipends paid to the city’s elected leaders shall be reviewed and adjusted, if appropriate, between June and December of each even-numbered year. A report prepared by city staff states that the stipends paid to Moses Lake officials are comparable to or higher than those of officials from four similar cities with “weak mayor” forms of municipal governance. Those cities are Covington, Ellensburg, Port Angeles and Walla Walla.

Moses Lake’s mayor receives a $1,000 monthly stipend, compared to an average of less than $800 for the other four cities. The deputy mayor receives a $600 stipend, compared to an average of around $570 for the other four cities. Council members receive a monthly stipend of $500, compared to an average of just under $560 for the other cities.

Moses Lake officials also receive a per-meeting stipend of $30 per meeting, not to exceed 10 meetings or $300 per month, which none of the other four cities offer elected leaders, according to the staff report. That per-meeting stipend will be under consideration at Tuesday’s city council meeting, though there will not be a vote until the next meeting in January.

The council may vote to eliminate the per-meeting stipend, retain it, or establish a salary review commission for further analysis, according to the meeting agenda.

Any approved stipend adjustments must be voted on by the city council prior to an election cycle in odd-numbered years, according to the meeting agenda. Approved adjustments would go into effect once a current council member is re-elected or after the election of a new council member to a position.

Emry Dinman can be reached at edinman@columbiabasinherald.com.