Quietly, the Jamestown City Council made a smart move in the decision to increase city salaries — one other legislatures having similar discussions should follow.

The council received recommendations from its Salary Review Commission to increase the mayors’ salary from $72,000 to between $80,000 and $90,000, increase the City Council’s salaries from $5,000 to $7,500 and the council president’s salary from $6,000 to $9,000. But rather than act on them now so they can take effect on Jan. 1, the council smartly tabled the recommendation for further discussion in 2023. That means the raises, if approved, won’t take effect until Jan. 1, 2025.

That timeline means the council isn’t giving itself a stealth raise after the city budget is approved, something we hope the state Legislature takes note of as talks of a special session to raise state legislators’ salaries dance like sugar plumbs in state politicians’ heads. No last-minute budget amendments will be needed if the council makes the decision to accept the Salary Review Commission’s recommendations, and those raises will be on the public record for the next election for those city residents for whom raises for the mayor and council could be an issue.

Should the mayor and council get raises? In our view, yes. It’s been 14 years since salaries for the mayor and council were changed. Most city employees earn more than the mayor, though that says as much about contracts the city has approved in recent years as the appropriateness of the mayor’s salary. Still, the mayor’s salary is lower than it should be for a city of Jamestown’s size and, perhaps, increasing it would attract more candidates for the position. As for the council, the small raise in their collective salaries is likely justified for the work they put in.

Of course, it’s worth saying if the city’s financial position worsens, the mayor and the council should be just as willing to take a pay cut as they are willing to accept a raise.