City Council approved the first reading of an ordinance that would increase compensation for council members and the mayor during its April 28 meeting with a 4-2 vote. Councilmen John Hesser and Keith Brainard were the dissenting votes, and Councilman Jerry Hammerlun was not in attendance.

On April 14 City Council accepted the Council Compensation Committee's recommendation for council member payment. However, Councilwoman Patty Eason moved at the April 28 meeting to further increase the council's pay hike.

Council members voted 3-3 on the amendment. Hesser, Brainard and Councilman Steve Fought voted against the amendment, and Mayor Dale Ross broke the tie with a vote in favor of the increase.

Eason, who served as the committee’s co-chair with Hammerlun, said after further review she believed the compensation should be higher. Eason and Hammerlun are not seeking re-election.

The vote would increase the compensation for City Council members to $1,150 a month and the mayor’s pay to $1,250 effective June 1. Council members in previous years had made $350 a month with the mayor being paid $450 a month. In addition both had the ability to be reimbursed up to $800 in expenses.

The committee recommendation previously approved would have increased council pay to $800 and the mayor’s pay to $1,100.

“I really have a responsibility to those of us [on the committee who] from the very beginning had considered that we needed to do a better job of showing our appreciation as a city to the folks who give their time [to serve on council],” Eason said.

“[This is an] increase to an amount that we were allowed to accept in the past,” Eason said. “It is a proven figure in terms of the appropriateness of the amount.”

Council and mayor compensations were last amended in June 2012. City Council approved amending compensation from a base pay with expense reimbursements to a set monthly amount of $400 for council members and $550 for the mayor.

Brainard said he wanted to respect the “will of the original committee,” which led him to vote against the increase.

The second reading is expected to be included in the council's May 12 agenda.