Should Erie’s mayor get a salary raise to $120,000? The current mayor says no

The city of Erie’s treasurer and controller are poised to receive their first annual salary increases in decades.

At the same time, Erie City Council is also considering signing off on a major hike in the yearly pay for the city’s mayor — from $95,000 to $120,000.

If approved, that 26% salary boost for Erie’s mayor would top the list of annual pay that mayors receive in Pennsylvania’s third-class cities.

A first-reading ordinance on City Council’s Wednesday meeting agenda proposes the salary increase, which would take effect in January 2026. That means the city’s current mayor, Joe Schember, would have to be elected to a third four-year term in November 2025 to see the pay hike.

In Erie, the mayor’s salary is set by ordinance at $95,000 and cannot be increased without a City Council vote. The last time it was increased was 2011, when City Council approved a $30,000 annual increase from $65,000 to $95,000.

That increase, though, didn't take effect until January 2014.

The City Council ordinance — which does not include information about which council members sponsored it — states the rationale for increasing the mayor's salary includes the fact that the pay has not been increased since 2014 and that "it is the desire of the Erie City Council to improve the City of Erie Mayor's salary to reflect the average salary of comparable positions throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the United States of America."

The mayoral salary ordinance would have to pass two readings of City Council to take effect. Council could take a final vote as soon as Sept. 18.

'It's too big of an increase'

Schember, who plans to seek re-election in 2025, told the Erie Times-News on Monday that if re-elected he would not accept the pay increase, and that he would direct city financial officials to continue to budget his salary at $95,000 a year.

Schember, a Democrat, was first elected in 2017 and easily won re-election in 2021.

“I’m not in favor of it, and if I get re-elected next year I won’t accept it,” Schember said. “I don’t feel I need that. It’s too big of an increase.”

Schember said he told City Council members as much during a pre-meeting caucus on Aug. 21.

Asked whether he would consider vetoing the ordinance, Schember said “I probably wouldn’t because they probably would have to votes to override. But I know I just plan to stay at the salary I’m at if I win a third term.”

The seven-member council needs a majority, or four ‘yes’ votes, to pass legislation. The panel would need five ‘yes’ votes to override a mayoral veto.

Mayoral pay in other third-class cities

There are 53 third-class cities in Pennsylvania, including Erie. Some, like Erie, have a mayor-council form of government.

In Easton, the mayor earns $101,938 in 2024, according to that city’s budget. That is believed to be the highest mayoral salary, currently, in any of the state’s third class cities.

Allentown pays its mayor $95,000 a year; Bethlehem, $90,500; Harrisburg, $80,000; and York $75,000, according to financial information from those third-class cities.

Erie City Councilwoman Kathy Schaaf proposed increasing both the city treasurer and controller salaries to $65,000 a year. The city treasurer currently earns $48,000; the city controller makes $38,000 annually.

Schaaf made the proposals because both jobs have significant responsibilities and the salaries haven’t been increased in decades. City Council has both first-reading ordinances for those salary increases on its Wednesday agenda as well.

But Schaaf said she opposes the proposed mayoral pay increase.

"I think the pay scale we have now is a fair wage for (a) city of our size," Schaaf said. "I don't think it needs to change."

City Council meets Wednesday at 9 a.m. in the Bagnoni Council Chambers at City Hall, 626 State St. The meeting can be viewed on Facebook and YouTube.

Contact Kevin Flowers at kflowers@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ETNflowers.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie City Council proposal could boost mayor's salary by $25,000