What are Mayors, City Reps Compensated?

Coming fresh off of Tuesday's elections, some residents are wondering how local elected city officials are compensated for their services.

Eureka City Clerk Ralph Lindsey said the mayor receives $700 per month as well as $250 for out-of-pocket expenses, or $950 total per month. Extrapolating, that would be $11,400 annually.

Eureka board of aldermen receive $200 per each board meeting and they attend two of those meetings per month, so they are getting $400 for their time invested in board meetings. (They often attend other city-related meetings during the month, however.) Additionally, they receive $200 for out-of-pocket expenses. Altogether, a Eureka board of alderman receives a $600 monthly stipend, which comes to a $7,200 subtotal annually for each alderman.

Eureka has six aldermen, so the city's annual total for their services is $43,200.

Wildwood City Administrator Dan Dubruiel said the mayor receives $5,000 per year.

Dubruiel said city council members are paid $100 per council meeting actually attended, or a maximum of $2,400 annually. However, one factor specific to Wildwood that other municipalities do not have to deal with is Wildwood's total of 16 council members. In other words, compensating all of Wildwood's city council members could tally up to $38,400 per year.

"I believe it's been this way since Wildwood was founded," said Dubruiel.

Comparatively speaking, compensation levels in nearby cities do vary.

Ellisville City Clerk Kate Demeter said the Ellisville mayor will receive $8,700 per year and the city's six council members get $6,000 per year for council meetings. Altogether, the annual tally for Ellisville council members then would be $36,000.

Chesterfield representative Vickie Haus said the Chesterfield mayor receives $1,000 per month, or $12,000 annually. Chesterfield's eight council members receive $500 per month; the city has eight members. So, Chesterfield's annual tally for council members would be $48,000.

Fenton City Clerk Diane Monteleone said the Fenton mayor receives a flat $500 monthly, which extrapolates to $6,000 annually. Fenton's aldermen get $300 per month, for an yearly total of $3,600 each. There are eight aldermen for the municipality, so Fenton's annual compensation to the city's aldermen is $28,800.

All mayors referenced in this article provide part-time service to their respective cities. Population figures in the following chart were derived from the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data, except for Fenton.