Salem City Councilor Tom Andersen is proposing that the eight unpaid councilors start receiving up to $2,000 per month in stipends.

Slated for consideration Tuesday, Andersen's motion also calls for up to $2,500 a month for the mayor. If passed, that could add up to as much as $222,000 a year.

But the proposal comes at the same time as the city is grappling with a $6 million budget shortfall.

A task force charged with making recommendations to address the budget gap has considered new revenue streams that residents would pay for.

Sustainable Services Revenue Task Force members earlier this month debated a new city operating fee pegged to local utility bills and a 0.25-percent municipal payroll tax. The task force is supposed to present its guidance next month.

Salem Mayor Chuck Bennett, who chairs the task force, said now is not the time for Andersen's proposal: "I'm really not at all interested in this motion, and I would suggest it won't pass."

"None of us are being worked so hard that we need to be paid for this honor to be on the council or mayor or any of the other services that we do for the city," Bennett said. "I just see no need to proceed any further with discussion of this."

"We do have a $6 million budget gap, and I'm not willing to give up an additional police officer or firefighter or any other of the really needed and necessary parts of our workforce to pay the City Council," he said.

Andersen couldn't be reached for comment Friday.

A city report included with his motion states: "Providing a stipend meant to reimburse members’ expenses, and not meant to compensate for time spent attending to member duties, would likely maintain the members’ status as volunteers, and would be consistent with the Salem Charter."

However, councilors can already be reimbursed for costs associated with carrying out city business.

And there remains uncertainty around whether a stipend would count as "compensation for (the mayor's and councilors') services," which is prohibited under Salem's City Charter. One argument included with Andersen's motion indicates that if stipends were limited to as much as $2,500, they might pass muster and be considered "nominal" and not a wage or salary.

That's because they supposedly wouldn't exceed 20 percent of the amount a public agency might pay otherwise for a full-time equivalent worker who would perform duties similar to a councilor's.

Moreover, the motion would benefit current councilors, which could be a conflict of interest if they voted on it, according to the city report.

"However, if the stipend would take effect only after the election of each individual member, there would no longer be an actual conflict of interest for members, and they may vote," the report concluded.

Email jbach@statesmanjournal.com, call (503) 399-6714 or follow on Twitter @jonathanmbach.

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