Camas Salary Commission recommends 2% increase for mayor, city councilors

The Camas Salary Commission will hold a public hearing at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 13, to take public testimony, discuss and vote on recommended stipend increases for the mayor of Camas and members of the Camas City Council.

During the Commission’s Sept. 17 meeting, members weighed the proposed stipend increases in light of the city of Camas’ general fund revenue shortfalls, which could prompt budget cuts in 2025-26.

Some members believed the Commission should not increase the officials’ monthly stipends, while others mulled increasing the officials’ monthly pay by 2.4% — in line with the cost-of-living increases many unionized City staffers will receive in 2025.

Instead, the Commission landed in between those two options and agreed to recommend that the vehicle and technology allowance the mayor receives, as well as the technology allowances each Council member receives, should hold steady at their 2024 amounts, while increasing the officials’ monthly stipends by 2% in 2025.

Currently, Camas Mayor Steve Hogan receives a monthly stipend of $3,000 while the Council members each receive $1,200 a month. Hogan also receives a monthly $300 vehicle allowance and $100 technology allowance, while Council members receive $75 a month for technology needs, but do not have a vehicle allowance.

The Commission’s recommendation would bump the Council members’ monthly stipends up to $1,224 a month in 2025, and the mayor’s stipend up to $3,060 a month in 2025. The vehicle and technology allowances would stay the same.

The Salary Commission gave the mayor a 9.96% stipend increase and Council members a 17.2% stipend increase in 2022 to help bring Camas officials’ monthly stipends in line with other, similar Washington cities. In 2023, the Council members and mayor received a 4.5% stipend increase and in 2024, the mayor received a 4.4% increase while Council members saw their stipends increase by nearly 15%, jumping from $1,045 a month to $1,200 a month.

Camas’ elected officials’ monthly stipends and allowances are high compared to other Clark County cities. Battle Ground, for instance, gives its mayor a $1,200 monthly stipend and its city council members a $1,000 monthly stipend. In Washougal, the monthly stipends are $848 for the mayor and $624 for the city council members. Vancouver, according to documents provided by the Camas Salary Commission, gives its mayor and its city council members monthly stipends of $2,875.

Some Washington cities are more comparable to Camas when it comes to the monthly stipends doled out to elected officials. Issaquah, for example — which is slightly larger than Camas with 41,500 residents compared to Camas’ 27,660 — pays its mayor a monthly stipend of $11,705 and its council members receive $1,700 a month, according to the Camas Salary Commission’s report, which also shows that Tukwila, which is a comparable size to Camas, pays its mayor a stipend of $11,315 a month, while its city councilors receive $1,450 a month.

The Salary Commission asked Camas’ mayor and Council members to track their time and showed that, in 2024, the Council members each spent an average of 18.75 hours per week attending meetings, interacting with citizens and attending trainings or webinars. Camas’ mayor, who attends more events and meetings during the course of his work running the day-to-day operations of the City, estimates that he works an average of 30 hours each week on mayor-related business.

For more information about how to attend the Camas Salary Commission’s public hearing on Nov. 13, visit cityofcamas.us/meetings.