City Council Meeting Date: May 19, 2026
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Ben Martig, City Administrator
Title
Consideration of First Reading of Ordinance No. 1093 Amending Section 2-66 of City Code Relating to 2027 and 2028 Mayor and City Council Compensation.
Body
Action Requested:
The Northfield City Council considers the first reading of Ordinance No. 1093 - Amending Section 2-66 of the City Code Relating to Council Compensation. This ordinance would increase the Mayor and City Council salaries by 4.0% commencing January 1, 2027 and another increase of 3.0% commencing January 1, 2028.
Summary Report:
The City Council is asked to approve the first reading of Ordinance No. 1093 - Amending Section 2-66 of the City Code Relating to Council Compensation (attachment 1) setting Council compensation for 2027 and 2028. Ordinance No. 1062 - Amending Section 2-26 of the City Code Relating to Council Compensation was approved on July 9, 2024 setting Council Compensation for 2025 and 2026 is also attached (attachment 2). (Editor's note- Ord. No. 1081§ 2, adopted September 9, 2025, renumbered provisions for use as §§ 2-25.5-2-25.10 as §§ 2-26, 2-35-2-39. Inasmuch as there were already provisions so designated, said Article has been renumbered as §§ 2-66, 2-67, 2-76-2-85 at the discretion of the editor.)
The following section of the City Code has set the current compensation of the Mayor and City Council:
Article II. City Council Division 1. - Generally
(a) The annual salary for the elected members of the city council shall be in the amount of $10,027.00 commencing January 1, 2025, and shall be increased to the amount of $10,302.00 commencing January 1, 2026.
(b) The annual salary for the mayor shall be in the amount of $13,369.00 commencing January 1, 2025, and shall be increased to the amount of $13,736.00 commencing January 1, 2026.
(c) The salaries established shall be paid on a biweekly basis.
(d) The salaries established by this section shall be effective as of the dates set forth above and shall continue in the amounts which will be effective January 1, 2025, until changed as provided by state law.
(Code 1986, § 100:45; Ord. No. 816, 10-18-2004; Ord. No. 959, 8-5-2014; Ord. No. 984, 9-20-2016; Ord. No. 997, 5-1-2018; Ord. No. 1014, 7-21-2020; Ord. No. 1040, 7-12-2022; Ord. No. 1062, 7-9-2024; Ord. No. 1081, § 2, 9-9-2025)
State law reference(s)-Authority to fix salary of council, Minn. Stat. § 415.11.
State law reference(s)-Authority to fix salary of council, Minn. Stat. § 415.11.
The following state law requires that there shall be no change in wages until after the next succeeding municipal election:
415.11 SECOND TO FOURTH CLASS CITIES; GOVERNING BODY SALARIES.
Subdivision 1.Set by ordinance. Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law, charter, or ordinance, the governing body of any statutory or home rule charter city of the second, third or fourth class may by ordinance fix their own salaries as members of such governing body, and the salary of the chief elected executive officer of such city, in such amount as they deem reasonable.
Subd. 2.After next election. No change in salary shall take effect until after the next succeeding municipal election.
Subd. 3.Temporary reductions. Notwithstanding subdivision 2 or a charter provision to the contrary, the governing body may enact an ordinance to take effect before the next succeeding municipal election that reduces the salaries of the members of the governing body. The ordinance shall be in effect for 12 months, unless another period of time is specified in the ordinance, after which the salary of the members reverts to the salary in effect immediately before the ordinance was enacted.
Attached is the Council background information from the last ordinance that was adopted.
City Administrator Martig is suggesting following city employee’s general adjustment to base pay plan from the last two years of 2025 and 2026 for the Mayor and Council’s 2027 and 2028 compensation increase. This has been the practice employed by the City Council since 2017.
|
|
Current 2026 |
Proposed 2027 |
Proposed 2028 |
|
Mayor |
$13,736.00 |
$14,285.00 |
$14,714.00 |
|
Council |
$10,302.00 |
$10,714.00 |
$11,035.00 |
Below are some comparable cities current (2026) compensation for reference:
City Mayor Council
Columbia Heights $15,000.00 $10,800.00
Crystal $12,172.56 $9,364.20
Elk River $10,000.00 $7,000.00
Faribault $13,500.00 $9,800.00
Forest Lake $6,500.00 $5,500.00
Hastings $10,200.00 $7,700.00
New Brighton $8,600.00 $7,000.00
New Hope $16,016.00 $11,695.32
Owatonna $14,400.00 $12,000.00
South St. Paul $12,300.00 $8,700.00
Stillwater $9,000.00 $7,200.00
West St. Paul $14,500.00 $12,500.00
White Bear Lake $9,600.00 $7,500.00
Northfield $13,736.00 $10,302.00
Median $12,236.28 $9,032.10
In order to implement a change to be effective for anytime between 2027 and 2028, the Council would need to initiate a first reading on or before September 2026. The tentative timeline is summarized below.
Alternative Options:
A. Remove from the consent agenda and during the regular meeting postpone to the June 9th work session. This would provide for additional discussion and still allow an ordinance to be initiated in August which would be before the State deadline. The following options could occur as discussion at the work session:
1. Take no action. The City Council would not need to take any action. In this case, the compensation would remain at the current levels at least through the end of 2028.
2. Propose other increase or decrease from the recommended level.
3. Discuss possible alternate process to review and recommend to the City Council.
Financial Impacts:
The increase each year is proposed at 4.00% for 2027 and 3.00% for 2028 for the Mayor and City Council.
The proposed 2027 budget impact for the Mayor and Council would be an additional expense of $3,021 over 2026. The proposed 2028 budget impact for the Mayor and Council would be an additional expense of $2,355 over 2027.
Tentative Timelines:
ü May 19, 2026 First Reading of Ordinance
June 2, 2026 Second Reading of Ordinance
June 10, 2026 Publication
July 10, 2026 Ordinance Effective 30 days following publication
November 3, 2026 Election Day (Salary change not effective until after the election)
January 1, 2027 Salary change effective date per language in ordinance