Riverton City Council unanimously approved a change to the pay structure for elected officials in April. 

The mayor and city council salaries will now mirror city employees’ typical cost of living adjustments they receive each year. 

City Manager Kevin Hicks explained to the council after comparing to other cities, they recommend it follow what the staff receives every year. 

“The reason I like this is hopefully we don’t need to come back and have this conversation again” he said. “We simply say treat elected officials like the rest of staff. If staff gets x percent, elected officials get the same x percent since they are like employees.”

Changes started in 2019, when the council voted to increase the mayor’s salary from $15,500 to $21,000, bringing the compensation more in line with what other mayors in the area were making. 

The mayoral salary was then tied to a percentage of the city manager salary, basically matching a hours-per-week and compensated to that level. That salary reached almost $42,000 in 2023. Riverton’s current city manager position salary is just over $183,000 while the mayor now makes just under $50,000. 

All council members were in agreement with the change. 

“I’m comfortable treating elected officials like city employees. Also makes it so the compensation is not like a political football to drag out every now and then and beat each other with,” Councilmember Spencer Haymond said. 

He preferred to keep compensation low so people treat the position as service rather than coming for money. 

Councilmember Tawnee McCay suggested the council keep its wage at its current number ($27,000) for at least another year before any cost of living adjustment so it comes more in line with what other city councils make. All council members agreed. 

For comparison’s sake through transparent.utah.gov, the Herriman mayor’s 2024 wage was $24,000 while its council members’ wage was $14,500. South Jordan council members in 2024 was $19,000. λ