Pay Increase for Butler Mayor, Council Members

Butler Mayor Robert Alviene and the borough council members will receive a pay increase in 2013 for the first time since 1991.

The council unanimously approved the increase (with the exception of Councilman Sean McNear who was absent) during the Dec. 4 meeting.

According to Borough Administrator James Lampmann, each council member is currently paid $2,000 and will have their pay increased to $3,000. Alviene's pay is currently $2,500 and will be increased to $4,000, Lampmann said.

When asked why the increase was approved now after so many years, Lampmann said "that's a decision that the council makes."

Alviene said there was no particular reason that the council members felt the upcoming year was an appropriate time for a pay increase other than that a long time had passed since the last raise. In the past, Lampmann and Alviene said the council members simply chose not to include themselves in the resolution for salary increases for non-union employees discussed annually.

Alviene said the discussion on raising the salaries of the mayor and council members has come up several times with no action during his time as a council member. But on Dec. 4, Alviene said the council members were in agreement about the increase.

"The council just all thought that it was time, after 1991, that we should be considered a little bit," he said Wednesday.