Bend city councilors likely will vote on March 28 to give the future council a pay raise, to $533 per month for councilors and $1,066 for the mayor. They are now paid a $200 monthly stipend.

The raise will go into effect only if voters approve a change to the city charter in the May primary election. The amounts chosen were linked to the median family income in the area.

The amounts proposed are reasonable, although it remains difficult to see how the mayor deserves twice the pay of a councilor. The mayor doesn’t do twice the work or have twice the responsibility. Bend’s mayor has minimal power beyond leading meetings and setting agendas.

The proposed pay levels are low enough to ensure that no one seeks a seat on the Council for the money. At the same time, they’re high enough to recognize the amount of time a part-time elected official spends on city business.

Linking increases or decreases in salary to changes in the median income is bothersome. Household median income may reflect the health of the local economy, at least to some extent.

But it’s difficult to believe that the prospect of a small uptick or decline in the stipend will have any impact on the way a city councilor or mayor votes on the issues before the city.

A better measure going forward would be the region’s consumer price index. It accounts for the cost of living in the area in ways median household income does not.

Even if voters approve the charter changes that put the raises into effect, councilors (including the mayor) won’t see more money immediately.

Each must survive an election before the raise goes into effect. Thus, those holding the seats held by Casey Roats, Nathan Boddie and Barb Campbell will see a raise in January 2019, while those elected in 2020 to fill seats held by Bill Moseley, Justin Livingston, Sally Russell and Bruce Abernethy will get the same raises in 2021.