ELY – Ely City Council members considered giving themselves a raise Tuesday night but they will have to get the approval of voters in November.

Since the mid-1990s, the salaries for elected officials have remained at $425 a month for the mayor and $400 a month for the six council members.

“Looking at our charter, if we are ever going to raise the pay we will have to put it on the ballot,’ Mayor Ross Petersen said in initiating the conversation.

“It is something that I think should be raised,” he said. “We do look at this as community service, but we do end up putting in a lot of time. There have been many months when I put in 100 hours. We are getting close to 20 years since there has been a raise. Perhaps we should bite the bullet and put it on the ballot and at least see how people think about it.”

He suggested a raise to $600 a month for the mayor and $500 for council members.

Petersen is not seeking re-election after his sole two-year term. Three candidates are running for mayor and 10 candidates are looking to fill three council seats. A primary will be held Aug. 12 and the general election will be held Nov. 4.

Council member Gordon Sheddy was quick to recommend that any raise take effect in the future. He suggested raises might be appropriate by 2020 or 2024.

Petersen thought that any raise take effect in two years.

Clerk-Treasurer Harold Langowski wondered how any council members would support a raise if it would become an election issue this November.

Sheddy continued, “It is pretty easy to spend the $356 after taxes on gasoline and other things. I would not want it perceived that anybody that is currently on the council, whether they are up for election this year or in two years, would benefit.”

There was some question as to whether the last raise was authorized in 1996 or 1998. Petersen suggested making it a 20-year cycle. “What the heck, let’s break down and raise their pay every 20 years,” he said.

The rate of pay was set at that time to compensate the mayor and council members for the cost of insurance provided by the city. “Some people wanted the money and some people wanted the insurance,” Petersen said.

Langowski said there is nobody currently on the council getting insurance coverage by the city.

Council member Kara Polyner wondered what the value of that insurance would be today. “When I was thinking about getting on the council, I was told (by Gordon) that the commitment would be just three meetings,” she said.

“But I’m a politician,” Sheddy retorted.

“It is more than just those three meetings,” Polyner said. “We are asked and/or required to be on these commissions (and committees) as well. Currently just with city business I attend 10 meetings a month and with Beautification Committee and Incredible Ely, I’m at 18 meetings a month.”

Council member Heidi Omerza said, “We all go above and beyond. We do it because we feel we should be here making Ely a better place.”

Another ballot question consideration by Petersen pertains to the exceeding line items in the budget. “We need to change that,” he said. “It is just good budgeting policy. When you plan for something because that’s the way it was in previous years and then you see changes, right now we have to go in and change those line items so they show they were always that way because we can’t exceed various budgets (in departments). It was not that way at the college or the state. It would help us to see what has changed from our plan.”

Council member Warren Nikkola suggested budget changes could be accomplished more easily through the city’s Charter Commission. “It would work a lot more smoothly,” he said. “It is really a matter of (budget) interpretation.”

Langowski explained that, last year, some changes were made to some line items in the budget but it did not change the bottom line on the total budget.

The final ballot question suggested by Petersen involved the election cycle for council members. “I think every two years we should have a two-year seat on the council, instead of all the council seats being four years. Four years is a long commitment. I think there might be some qualified people out there that might think about (being on the council for a two-year term). I think many people have a hard time with that four-year commitment.”

Langowski said that in the 1996 there were still one-year council positions and the mayor served for three years. “Things have changed in the charter, making the mayor a two-year term and four years alternating for the council,” he said.

“When you have a big turnover every election, that sets the city up for a real dis-service (to taxpayers),” Nikkola said.

Shorter terms would increase city costs to conduct more elections.

Langowski suggested asking the Charter Commission to convene and consider the suggested ballot questions. No other ballot questions were considered.