The citizens of Mapleton appear to have given at least implicit support to the pay raise the City Council gave itself.

The council approved the raise at Tuesday's meeting with almost no comment from the public. Only one resident spoke on the subject, according to Mayor Jim Brady, and was supportive of the proposal.

The revision to the fiscal year 2008 budget raises the level of compensation for City Council members to $600 a month from $75, and the mayor's to $1,500 from $500.

Last year, Mapleton commissioned a study of compensation rates for nearly 40 Utah cities and found that its own pay ranked near the bottom.

The numbers were based on rates from the beginning of 2006, and many of the cities had since changed their rates. In the week before the vote the city updated those numbers, finding that some cities' new rates left Mapleton even further behind.

While Mapleton's council members made $75 a month in compensation, the next lowest rate on the revised list was $200, Brady said.

"In the end, the council took a look at the comparative compensation rates, and they ended up putting themselves right in the middle," Brady said. "They were at the bottom by a considerable amount, and it hadn't been changed in a while."

The vote gives Brady the first raise for a Mapleton mayor since 2003, and the council its first since 1996.

Council members said they put in an average of 20-30 hours a week on city business. In an especially busy week, such as during the legislative session, Brady said he might spend up to 35 hours a week on his official duties.

Brady said council members stated that they were not trying to make their pay equal to what someone would make in a regular job -- Brady has commented that even after the raises they would be making less than minimum wage -- but council members wanted to make the pay adequate enough so that people wouldn't be discouraged from running for public office.

"They indicated that typically, mayors and council members in cities of our size are never truly compensated financially for the work they do," Brady said. "It was pointed out that even at the pay raise we were talking about ... nobody would work for that amount."

Several members of the council don't accept their salaries and instead give the money back to the city.

Jeremy Duda can be reached at 344-2561 or jduda@heraldextra.com.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page C1.