EAST PEORIA – The City Council advanced an ordinance that could raise the mayor’s annual salary by more than $20,000 after the April 2027 municipal election.
The ordinance raises the salary for a full-time mayor who also handles city administrator duties, according to East Peoria city attorney Scott Brunton.
“The city continues to operate without a city administrator, and the current full-time Mayor has assumed the chief executive officer duties normally handled by a full-time city administrator,” Brunton said in a memorandum to the council. “As a result, the City has saved a significant amount of funds that would have been paid for a city administrator.”
The proposed ordinance will increase the salary for a full-time mayor performing chief executive officer duties to over $128,000 per year, with annual cost of living adjustments. If East Peoria hires a city administrator, the mayor’s salary will revert to the prior pay structure. According to East Peoria’s 2025-26 compensation report, Mayor John Kahl collects a base salary of $104,735.
The measure passed 3-1 on the first reading, with Kahl abstaining. Commissioner Daniel Decker cast the dissenting vote, saying that his opposition was not based on disagreement with the ordinance but because he would like to see the city address other unresolved salary issues in East Peoria’s government.
“Fixing one without fixing the other causes me concern and I believe that will cause concern for a lot of employees, as well,” he said. “So, for that reason, I am going to vote no. If we can come up with a plan for the fire department, I would love to support this in two weeks.”
Kahl objected to Decker’s comments, calling them “absolutely insulting,” and said the introduction of collective bargaining agreements into a public meeting “nauseates me.” He also noted that he had asked Brunton to bring the salary adjustment forward earlier this year.
“The law is clear that this is to be done 120 days prior to an election,” Kahl said. “I asked the city attorney to bring this forward, and we had discussions in February because I didn’t want this to be a point of contention for anybody. Within the next 30 days, everybody’s going to find out who’s running for reelection and who’s not. What I didn’t want was going down to the wire and having this look like there’s a conflict from anybody.”
The ordinance will be laid on the table for public inspection for no less than one week.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: East Peoria mayor’s salary could increase with proposed ordinance
Reporting by Mike Kramer, Peoria Journal Star / Journal Star
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By Mike Kramer, Peoria Journal Star | USA TODAY Network
