Mapleton city leaders are considering tripling the mayor's pay and boosting City Council compensation by 700 percent.

Under the proposal, council members would be paid $600 a month, or $7,200 a year. The mayor would receive $1,500 a month, or $18,000 a year.

Council members currently are paid $75 a month, and the mayor receives $500 a month.

The increase would move Mapleton into the upper tier of elected official compensation in similar cities, according to figures compiled by the city.

Mapleton's mayors haven't seen a pay raise since 2003, according to city manager Bob Bradshaw, and council members have had the same pay since about 1996.

"These allowances are completely out of date and they're completely out of synch with comparable allowances attained by neighboring cities in Utah County and throughout the state of Utah," Bradshaw said.

There will be a hearing on the proposal at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Mapleton city building, 125 W. Community Center Way.

Mayor Jim Brady noted that pay raises for elected officials can be a touchy subject. Many people believe that holding public office is an honor and privilege, and elected officials should do it only for the sake of serving their communities, he said.

But serving is also a tremendous imposition on officeholders' time.

"What's usually lost in all the numbers is the amount of time that the elected officials actually dedicate to their city," Brady said. "And when you start looking at it in terms of time, even at the (compensation) levels we're talking about, the council members will be working probably for less than minimum wage."

The amount of time an elected official spends on official duties each week varies. On an average week when not much is happening, Brady said he spends 20-25 hours on his mayoral duties. At other times, such as during the legislative session or last fall when he first took over as mayor, Brady said he worked about 35 hours a week on city business.

Councilman Keith Stirling said he spends an average of 20-30 hours a week on official duties. Aside from council meetings and the preparation that goes into them, councilors and the mayor also work on city committees and municipal groups such as the South Utah Valley Municipal Water Association and the South County Mayors' Association.

The city compared its levels of compensation to 15 other nearby cities and learned that it ranked near the bottom. Brady said he is looking at an expanded list of almost 40 Utah cities and may adjust his proposal based on his findings.

According to the city's study, in January 2006 -- when Mapleton compiled the numbers for comparison -- Payson's mayor made $9,000 a year and its council members made $6,400. Lehi paid its mayor and councilors $6,915 and $5,532, respectively. On the upper end of the spectrum, Moab paid its mayor $12,000 and its councilors $6,000, while Pleasant Grove paid $18,000 to its mayor and $7,200 to its council members.

Councilman Mike Cobin doesn't accept a salary from the city, preferring instead to put the money back into Mapleton's coffers. But he supports the pay raise proposal.

Some people might be discouraged from running for office because they can't afford losing income from their regular jobs, and for those people, Cobin feels even a modest pay raise could make a difference.

"What people don't realize is people in public office, some of them take huge, huge losses in their income," said Cobin, an automotive technician. "I won't tell you how much it costs me to be on the City Council, but it's a significant amount of money."

Stirling shared that sentiment, saying that higher pay would encourage professionalism in elected officials.

"In order to get and keep quality people you've got to pay them," he said. "I'm going to donate mine back to the city. But I agree with the premise that's being presented."

If approved, the increased compensation will be written into the final version of Mapleton's budget for the fiscal year 2008, which is also on Tuesday's agenda. The fiscal year begins in July.

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

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page C1.