The Haines Borough Assembly has introduced an ordinance that would increase pay for assembly members and Mayor Jan Hill.

The assembly already has approved a resolution to start compensating members of the Haines Borough Planning Commission, at a rate of $50 per meeting attended.

The proposed ordinance would increase assembly members’ pay to $125 per meeting from $100, and also pay $50 for committee meetings requiring attendance by the full assembly, called the “committee of the whole.”

Mayoral pay would increase to $1,250 monthly from $1,000 per month.

The changes would cost the borough $11,172 for the assembly increase and $4,538 for commissioners’ pay.

The pay increase was advanced by the assembly’s finance committee, comprised of chairman Jerry Lapp, Norm Smith and Scott Rossman. The assembly rejected a proposal for a more generous raise in May, with Hill casting the tie-breaking vote.

Lapp on Oct. 26 said the proposed increases are “half of what was recommended at the last introduction of this ordinance.”

“We had an ordinance before us for $150 and $1,500 for the Mayor and this here revised it down to $125 for each assembly member, but also this added $50 for each committee-of-the whole meeting, when you have special committee-of-the-whole meetings,” Lapp said.

Lapp suggested the removal of the ordinance’s reference to life insurance, major medical, dental and optical coverage “available under the current plans adopted by the borough.”

“I would like to see that removed, because I think we’re supposed to actually vote on that every year, whether (the assembly elects) to have insurance or not, and I think that part should go out of there,” Lapp said.

Borough manager Mark Earnest said he would have more information on insurance costs Tuesday.

Planning commission pay was taken up as a separate resolution. “The (borough) charter states that the compensation for planning commission members shall be fixed by resolution, adopted by the assembly,” Earnest said.

Assembly members adopted the resolution, 6-0, on Oct. 26. “This is something that I had asked the manager to put on the agenda, before we talked about assembly increases,” Lapp said.

He said the resolution rose out of the earlier discussion on the assembly pay increase that was not approved.

“I voted against (the assembly pay increase) at that time, and I said I’d be bringing something forward, but at that time we were in negotiations with the union and it was right at budget time, so I thought this is kind of a compromise,” Lapp said. “I thought I’d include planning commission members, because I know they put in some pretty long meetings and stuff, and their time is worth something.”

Member Steve Vick asked if the resolution could lead to the borough paying members of other commissions, as well.

“We only have one bona fide commission, and that’s the planning commission,” Earnest said. “They have authority to approve permits and they actually have legal standing to make those approvals, rather than as an advisory committee.”