Residents can put the salary increases for the Kent mayor and City Council to a citywide vote if they can gather enough signatures in the next few weeks.
So far, nobody has submitted a petition to the city clerk’s office to put the proposed ordinance to a referendum, according to City Clerk Ronald Moore. A petition must be filed by Aug. 2 and would require 8,361 signatures of registered voters in order to put the pay raises to a vote.
That number is based on the state code that allows voters to sign a petition and requires 15 percent of voters registered on the day of the last general election. A total of 55,745 voters were registered in Kent for the November 2014 general election.
The city’s Independent Salary Commission earlier this year approved pay increases starting in January. Mayor Suzette Cooke and the seven council members appointed the five commission members.
The mayor will get a 35 percent pay hike to $138,000 per year plus an annual jump of 2.5 percent. She now makes $102,192 per year. Each council member gets a 2.5 percent annual pay hike. They make $13,752 per year.
The council president, who gets $14,496 per year, also will receive a 2.5 percent jump. The council president serves a two-year term and is chosen by the other council members. Voters elect council members to four-year terms.
Commission members decided to make elected salaries for Kent officials similar to comparable cities it studied, which were Everett, Bellingham, Federal Way and Auburn.
The revised salary schedule was published under Public Notices in the Kent Reporter on June 26 and July 3 in order to officially notify residents about the change. Based on the salary schedule, the filing date is July 3. The salary schedule becomes effective 30 days after the filing date, so that date is on Aug. 3 unless someone files a referendum petition.
The council formerly had the power to give itself and the mayor pay increases, but hasn’t done so for at least 10 years.
For more information about filing a petition, email City Clerk Ronald Moore at rmoore@kentwa.gov or call 253-856-5725.
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