Beginning next term, the salary of the mayor of Langley and the stipends council members receive will be different.
During a meeting this week, the city council approved a second and final reading of two separate ordinances affecting the pay of elected officials.
For the mayor, it’s a decrease, from an annual salary of $55,000 to $12,000.
Langley is in the process of hiring a city administrator, who is expected to take over most of the mayor’s current administrative duties.
The original recommendation from the city’s citizen-led Finance and Personnel Commission was to lower the mayor’s annual compensation to $7,704, but the council previously determined that this amount was too low.
For each council member, it’s an increase, from a monthly stipend of $50 to $125.
Although the council has had ample discussion on both changes in the past, with several council members expressing reservations, no comments were made during the meeting Monday night.
The ordinance for mayoral pay was approved 3-2, with Councilmembers Thomas Gill and Harolynne Bobis voting against. On the other hand, the ordinance for council compensation was unanimously approved.
The changes in pay do not go into effect until the next term for each seat begins. Mayor Scott Chaplin has already announced that he does not plan to run for mayor this year. Thomas Gill and Kennedy Horstman filed this week to run for mayor.