The El Paso mayor and city representatives will each receive a 15% pay raise next fiscal year as part of a City Charter amendment previously approved by voters.
The raise will boost city representative salaries from $63,183 to $72,800 and the mayor’s salary from $94,775 to $109,200, effective at the start of the new fiscal year Sept. 1.
The City Council held a special meeting Tuesday evening to receive a budget update and overview of the allocation for elected officials’ budgets. The current budget for the mayor and City Council’s administrative and discretionary expenditures is about $2.6 million. Next fiscal year’s projected budget is about $2.9 million – an increase of about 9% largely due to an increase in salaries and benefits, according to a city budget presentation.
The mayor and City Council salaries are based on the City Charter, the governing document that outlines the duties and powers of elected officials as well as local laws and rules for how the city is run. The charter can only be changed with voter approval.
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Here’s what to know about local elected officials’ salaries and pay raises:
Why is there a 15% pay raise for the next fiscal year?
About 57% of El Paso voters in November 2018 approved a charter proposition that changed how salaries for the mayor and City Council members are set. Salaries for city representatives were to align with the El Paso County area median household income as established by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, while the mayor’s salary was to be one-and-one-half that amount.
That put city representatives’ pay at $45,300 and the annual base salary of the mayor at $67,950 starting in September 2019.
The base salaries are revised annually based on that formula for the prior fiscal year median household income regardless of whether the figure increases or decreases.
In 2025, the HUD median household income for El Paso County was $72,800 – a calculation somewhat different from Census Bureau figures.
READ MORE: Average El Paso homeowner could pay about $105 more in city taxes next year
What were city elected officials paid before the charter amendment election?
The annual salary for a city representative was $29,000 and the mayor’s salary was $45,000 prior to 2019.
Does the City Council have the authority to change the pay raises they receive?
No. But if the City Council wanted to change the way pay raises are calculated, they could vote to place a proposition on a charter amendment election for voters to decide.
How often are City Charter amendment elections?
The City Council can hold City Charter elections every two years. In February, city Reps. Cynthia Boyar Trejo and Josh Acevedo proposed a charter amendment election to coincide with the November 2026 general election, but the motion failed. City Reps. Alejandra Chávez, Deanna Maldonado-Rocha, Ivan Niño, Art Fierro, Lily Limón and Chris Canales voted against it citing there was not enough time to vet proposals.
The last city charter election was in May 2023. Prior to that election, an effort to hold a charter amendment election in 2020 was put off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Does the City Council have to keep their pay raises?
The pay raises will take effect Sept. 1. Some elected officials opt to donate their salaries such as Mayor Renard Johsnon and former Mayors Dee Margo and Oscar Leeser.
Is there a difference between how the City Council and El Paso County Commissioners Court set their salaries?
Yes. Salaries for the City Council are determined by the City Charter, where the El Paso County Commissioners Court can vote ahead of the adoption of the annual budget whether to include pay raises for themselves – without having to go to voters.
When did county commissioners last receive a pay raise?
The last time the Commissioners Court, made up of four county commissioners and the county judge, voted to give themselves pay raises was for the 2024 fiscal year budget that included a controversial 16% pay raise. The pay for the four commissioners went from about $114,900 to nearly $133,500 a year, while the county judge’s annual salary increased from $131,500 to more than $152,700.
The Commissioners Court has not approved pay raises for themselves or other county employees over the last two fiscal years due to budgetary limits.
The post Why El Paso’s mayor, city representatives are getting a 15% pay raise appeared first on El Paso Matters.
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