Village council considering mayoral pay raise

November 04, 2009

The Los Lunas Village Council is considering raising the mayor’s yearly pay by $4,000.

The mayor currently receives $8,500 in compensation each year.

Mayor Robert Vialpando said he requested the pay raise because the mayor’s salary is the same as the councilors, yet his responsibilities are often greater.

“When I took over the position, I felt that with the new obligations I would have, plus balancing my personal business, it was going to be a bit of challenge,” he said.

Vialpando was a councilor as recently as April, when he was appointed as mayor because former Mayor Louis Huning resigned due to health concerns. Being mayor has substantially increased his workload, he said.

He said former Mayor Louis Huning hadn’t requested a pay raise in years. The last pay raise for the mayor and council was in March 1996, according to the village ordinance that will need to be amended to make the increase.

“The previous mayor kind of kept the same salary as the council made,” he said.

Vialpando said the village researched salaries from other municipalities, finding some mayors make a lot more than him and others make less. For example, Belen’s mayor makes $18,000 a year. The village also took into account budgetary constraints.

Eventually, Vialpando determined a $12,500 mayoral salary would be fair to request.

“It’s a modest increase, but the increase of my obligations have gone up considerably,” he said.

Vialpando said he asked for the pay increase now because he wants voters in the upcoming municipal election to be able to know about it before they vote. If the raise is approved by the council, the person elected as mayor in March will get the raise.

“I can’t get the raise until I go through an election,” he said, noting he’ll be running for the position.

Councilors haven’t yet approved the pay increase and will take public comments on it at their November 19 meeting. Councilors won’t consider raising their own salaries.

“I did comment that I felt the councilors might need to increase their salaries as well, but they turned it down. They said what they’re making is fine,” Vialpando said.

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