The pay debate puts two arguments on a collision course: fiscal restraint during a deficit and whether elected jobs should pay enough to attract more candidates.
Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown asked the city Salary Review Commission not to increase her pay as the commission is considering salary increases for the mayor, Spokane City Council members and other city officials. In a Monday letter, in Spokane, Washington, Brown pushed back on higher base salaries for 2027 and 2028, including a floated move to $230,000 from her current $186,400 — a 23.4% jump. Brown’s argument points directly to Spokane’s budget deficits, after May pay-review work and ahead of an August 3 checkpoint.
The request does not end the matter. The commission is independent, and the bigger question is whether Spokane can defend raising elected officials’ pay while cutting staff, raising taxes and waiting on another general fund forecast.
Brown rejects the mayoral raise
Brown’s message to the Salary Review Commission was direct: do not raise the mayor’s salary. According to The Center Square, she wrote that she already earns enough and cited the city’s continuing financial strain.
The timing is politically sharp. Spokane is still working through budget deficits that Brown says her administration inherited, while inflation, health care costs and other expenses continue to pressure city finances.
Her letter frames the issue less as personal sacrifice than as public credibility. If city leaders are asking departments and residents to absorb pain, Brown is arguing that the mayor’s paycheck should not be the first place the city shows generosity.
The panel still controls pay
Brown’s request is not binding. The Salary Review Commission, not the mayor, is responsible for reviewing compensation and submitting recommendations by the end of August.
Earlier this month, commissioners agreed to recommend increasing base salaries for the mayor and City Council members, though they had not settled on final dollar amounts. One commissioner floated moving the mayor’s salary to $230,000, up from $186,400.
That number became the flashpoint. A 23.4% raise is easy for critics to understand, especially when the city is also talking about deficits and staff reductions.
Commission Chair Reed Jessen told The Center Square he had not initially received Brown’s letter when asked about it, though it later appeared on the commission’s website. He also said he had not seen formal updated numbers on the next budget shortfall.
The council pay argument is different
The mayor’s salary is only one piece of the commission’s review. City Council pay may be the more complicated argument because council members are technically part-time, even as some say the work often exceeds 40 hours a week.
Council President Betsy Wilkerson has previously argued that the council is underpaid, saying a consultant report commissioned by the council would show the positions should be treated more like full-time jobs. The report cost about $65,000, according to The Center Square.
Supporters of higher pay make a governance argument: low compensation can narrow the pool of candidates to people who can afford to serve. Commissioners also discussed whether higher pay could attract qualified candidates who cannot simply leave a day job for public office.
That argument has force, but it competes with what residents see on the ground. Recent council office staff cuts have made the idea of pay hikes for elected officials harder to sell.
Deficits dominate the optics
Brown entered office in 2024 facing what The Center Square described as a roughly $25 million shortfall after former Mayor Nadine Woodward’s administration had exhausted general fund reserves. Since then, Spokane has tried to balance its books through a mix of tax increases and staff cuts.
Brown has also faced criticism that spending has continued to rise on her watch. That is why the pay debate is not simply about one salary line. It is about whether Spokane leaders can convincingly explain priorities before asking the public to accept more costs or fewer services.
The city’s next general fund forecast is a key missing piece. The Center Square reported that Communications Director Erin Hut said the forecast would not be ready until Thursday, with a budget meeting scheduled for that day after council members had waited months for projections.
The council has also adopted priorities that could add millions in budget pressure. Councilmember Michael Cathcart cast the lone vote against them, citing the lack of an identified funding source.
Comparisons cut both ways
There is a case that Brown’s current salary is not unusually high for a major public executive in the region. Records cited by The Center Square show Spokane County CEO Scott Simmons earning $216,085 and Spokane Valley City Manager John Hohman earning $264,354.
Those comparisons are imperfect. Simmons and Hohman are unelected administrators working under different forms of government, not city mayors accountable to voters in the same way.
Several Spokane cabinet officials also earn more than Brown. Before Kevin Hall was hired as police chief in 2024, the city advertised the police chief position at a salary range of $201,868 to $247,804.
Critics counter with a different comparison: household income. Resident Jordan Redshaw told the council that a $230,000 mayoral salary would be nearly three times Spokane’s median household income of $75,800 and called the idea out of touch during a deficit.
What to watch next
The commission still has to decide whether to recommend raises, how large they should be, and whether the mayor and council should be treated differently. Brown’s letter gives commissioners political cover to keep the mayor’s salary flat, but it does not answer the council compensation question.
The next stretch, including August 3 and the end-of-August recommendation deadline, will test how much weight commissioners give to the city’s budget picture. If the new forecast shows another sizable gap, raises will be harder to justify publicly.
If commissioners move ahead anyway, they will likely lean on workload, recruitment and pay parity with other senior public jobs. If they step back, they may be acknowledging that timing matters as much as compensation theory.
For Spokane residents, the practical takeaway is simple: this is no longer just an inside-baseball salary review. It has become a referendum on whether city government can align its pay decisions with the financial discipline it is asking from everyone else.
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