After months of conversation, community pushback and a course correction, Park City Council members settled on a salary bump in next year's budget — but not unanimously.
The pay hike passed 3-2 Thursday, June 25, as part of the city’s $240 million fiscal year 2027 budget.
Councilmembers Ed Parigian and Bill Ciraco voted no. Parigian felt the raise was too high, even at 18%.
“I'm like, well, if I don't feel comfortable getting the raise, I might as well vote no on just a little bit of raise, because it still was over the number that I thought I was signing up for,” he said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” June 26.
At 18%, councilmember salaries will rise from nearly $29,000 to over $34,000. The mayor’s salary will increase from more than $55,000 to almost $66,000.
The increase replaces a May 21 ordinance that more than doubled councilor and mayor salaries.
Ciraco voted no on both raises. He has advocated for a pay bump of no more than 10%, arguing the position is a service rather than a full-time job.
Councilmembers Tana Toly, Molly Miller and Diego Zegarra supported more hefty increases. They said the current pay limits the job to wealthy or retired people and requires a more than 40-hour work week.
“We do a lot of work. We're on duty, I swear, 24/7, it takes over your head. So we're gonna have the discussion. Is this a full-time job? Is this a part-time job? What's it worth?” Parigian said.
Outside of cost-of-living adjustments, the council and mayor also haven’t had pay increases since fiscal year 2015.
While trying to decide what the pay bump should be, councilmembers and city staff also looked to governments in similar communities, like Aspen, Colorado, and Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
But Parigian noted this is part of the problem. He referenced a
Stanford University study which found this process can cause salaries to remain stagnant, with no councils making increases.
Due to the split opinions on raises, the council agreed to revisit the issue this fall. Parigian said the process will involve public feedback.
