Scranton's Next Mayor Gets A Raise

Scranton, Lackawanna County- Scranton's next mayor will see a bigger paycheck.  City council approved the increase at Thursday night's meeting along with some changes.  Councilman Pat Rogan says "initially the legislation was sent down to give the Mayor a $30,000 pay increase, which personally and my colleagues believed it was excessive."  From a $30,000 increase down to a $10,000 increase, Scranton City Council approved a higher salary for the city's next mayor.  Scranton resident Greg Evans says "I think it's a good idea right now becuase the role of mayor is grossly under paid in Scranton."  "If you take a look at a lot of the other municipalities in the commonwealth our salary of 50,000 was definitely one of the lower salaries," says  Doug Miller, who also lives in Scranton.

Current Mayor Chris Doherty originally wanted the salary raised from $50,000 a year to $80,000 and while everyone agrees it's time for a few extra dollars, Council says that jump was a little too high.  "Everyone did agree that the Mayor's salary was low because it hasn't been raised in 25 years, so we did agree to raise it a lower amount, so it will increase to $60,000," says Rogan.

Here's how it breaks down:  The next mayor will come into office making $60,000.  Then that person will recieve a $5,000 per year raise, for the next 3 years.  The salary will top off at  $75,000 by the 2017.  Council President Janet Evans says "with all of the significant financial challenges that lie ahead of the next mayor, it's important to be able to attract qualified people who are going to be able to successfully address these problems."

Also at Thursday night's meeting, City Council discussed possibly selling the Scranton Sewer Authority to the EPA as an idea to reduce the budget shortfalls.  Coucil also discussed the recently tabled on street parking issue that is currently under review, but that will not be back on the agenda for the next few weeks.