Rio Rancho Governing Body takes step towards establishing new salary for elected officals in 2026

The Rio Rancho Governing Body approved the first reading of an ordinance at its Aug. 8 meeting that would establish the salary for the mayor and city council members beginning in 2026.

The Governing Body, which consists of six city councilors and Mayor Gregg Hull, did not vote to give themselves raises but rather determined the annual compensation for whoever is voted into their positions in the future.

The first reading of the ordinance passed 6-0 with Hull only serving as a tie-breaking vote if necessary. The second reading will be done at the Aug. 22 meeting. If it passes then, it will go into effect in 2026 unless a Governing Body member is replaced before their election.

“Whoever runs for office and gets elected in 2026 would benefit from this new ordinance. And then whoever runs for office and wins in 2028 would benefit from this,” Hull said. “This ordinance adjusts the compensation for future elected officials.”

Hull, who is in his third term as mayor, made $30,000 a year when he was first elected in 2014. He has yet to decide if he is running again in 2026 but said this ordinance would not affect his choice.

“I have not made the decision whether I'm running for a fourth term yet. I haven't said yes, and I haven't said no. I have not made that decision, and I usually don't make that decision until somewhere about a year out,” Hull said. “At this point, I've not made the decision as to whether I would run or not, but this ordinance in this current term does not benefit me or the other currently elected officials.”

Deputy City Manager Peter Wells presented the first reading of the ordinance and echoed the mayor’s words.

“I'm going to say it now and I'm going to say it at the end, but I want to make sure that everyone, for the record, for the public's benefit as well, and everyone else in between, the proposal tonight, should you adopt it in some form, will not be applicable to any of you in office; none of you will see a compensation adjustment during your terms if this is approved,” Wells said. “So this is not the Governing Body approving pay adjustments for themselves. I want to make that clear, and that's pursuant to the state constitution, none of the Governing Body can have their salaries adjusted during their terms of office.”

This is the first time the ordinance establishing the annual salary for the mayor and city council has been reviewed and amended since 2016. Just as regular market/compensation analysis occurs related to non-elected city personnel (with adjustments made), city staff recently reviewed Rio Rancho elected official compensation.

“City staff, when it comes to non-elected city personnel, we regularly do compensation and market analysis, and over the last several years, we have looked at every single staff member in terms of compensation, pay grades and whatnot. And the only group that hasn't had that analysis done up to this point is elected officials,” Wells said. “So we felt, based on the amount of time it's been since this was last looked at, that we should do a marketing compensation analysis for you as a governing body. So it's a staff-driven exercise, and we found when we did this analysis that Rio Rancho elected official compensation is significantly lower by comparison to our peer cities in New Mexico and also Sandoval County government.”

The current municipal code states that beginning in 2018 and thereafter, the annual salary of city council members shall be 28% of the most current estimated median household income, as reported by the United States Census Bureau, on the day each councilor is sworn into office. Municipal Code Section 31.15 states that beginning in 2018 and thereafter, the annual salary of the mayor shall be the most current estimated median household income, as reported by the United States Census Bureau, on the day the mayor is sworn into office.

Currently, the mayor's annual salary is $66,733, which was established using 2022 data; if 2024 data was used, the amount would be $78,978.

“In 2026 there will be a mayoral election, so if I run for mayor and win, then yes, I would benefit from this,” Hull said. “If I don't run, whoever does run and gets elected, that individual would benefit from this.”

The mayor position is now a full-time position with outside employment allowed only if approved by the Governing Body. The District 1, 4, and 6 city councilor annual salary is currently $22,114.84, established using 2024 data. The District 2, 3 and 5 city councilor annual salary is currently $18,685.24, established using 2022 data.

As part of his presentation, Wells compared the compensation for elected officials in Las Cruces, Santa Fe, Sandoval County, Albuquerque and Roswell.

Currently, the mayor of Las Cruces is paid $97,756 annually, the Santa Fe mayor is paid $110,000 per year and will make $117,000 beginning in 2026. The mayor of Albuquerque is paid $132,500 with a bump to $146,081 starting in 2026, and the Roswell mayor makes a 2014 Hull-esque $30,196. Sandoval County commissioners each get a yearly salary of $39,106. City councilors in Santa Fe and Las Cruces (both $39,106) and Albuquerque ($62,843) make more than Rio Rancho city council members. While Albuquerque's population, according to the July 2023 U.S. Census Update, is 560,274, Rio Rancho has 110,660 residents. Las Cruces' population is 114,892, and Santa Fe has 89,167 people. Roswell, which pays its city councilors $7,549 a year, has a population of 47,109.

“I think all of us up here, when we first decided to run for office, we didn't do it because of the salary. Clearly, we didn't do it because of the salary. We did it because we love the city and we feel like we're doing something beneficial to the city and the citizens of the city,” District 4 Councilor Paul Wymer said. “Quite honestly, I didn't even know what the compensation was until after I was sworn in. I do think, however, that this is fair. The research has been done for future Governing Body members, and this is a good way to make it equal.”

City council member positions are not defined in the city charter or municipal code as either full-time or part-time equivalent but are generally considered to be part-time positions with no outside employment limitation.

“Having a competitive pay on these things will attract more people than just retired individuals who have pensions or other supplemental income,” Hull said. “For the first four years, when I was in office, I had a residual income from the sale of my company. That ran out after the first four years, but that's what supplemented my income. Otherwise I would have never been able to afford to run for mayor and be the mayor. I would have been priced out of it based on the $30,000 number. So how many skilled individuals do you exclude from running for office because the wage for a full-time job is less than the poverty line? So you're never going to get top executives, you're never going to get people with real experience running for these offices.”

According to the ordinance, should it be approved, following the March 2026 local election, the annual salary for city councilor Districts 2, 3 and 5 would increase from $18,685.24 to $39,106. If a city council seat becomes vacant, with a replacement appointed and confirmed prior to the March 2026 or March 2028 local election, the pay adjustment would go into effect at that time. After the March 2028 local election, the annual salary for city councilor Districts 1, 4 and 6 would increase from $22,114.84 to $39,106.

“This is the city council looking beyond their own terms for future city councilors that may want to run, putting the compensation in a place where it attracts a higher level of competition for those slots,” Hull said.

The annual salary for the mayor would increase from $66,733 to $97,765 after the March 2026 local election if the ordinance is approved on Aug. 22. Should the mayor seat become vacant, with a replacement appointed and confirmed prior to the March 2026 local election, the pay adjustment would go into effect at that time. Following the March 2026 local election, an estimated additional $92,300 in annual elected official compensation will have to be budgeted. After the March 2028 local election, an estimated additional $51,000 in annual elected official compensation will have to be budgeted. Additional benefit costs (associated with higher compensation and premium costs), as applicable, would have to be calculated and accounted for as well. Wells said city staff’s current five-year budget projections have sufficient revenue available to account for these costs.

“We want to have a wide variety of qualified individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences, with differing levels of income and wealth being able to seek and hold office,” Wells said. “That's what we should be striving for. And the fact of the matter is, compensation can dictate who is who is able and willing to seek and hold public office. So I'm not sure there's really a distinct advantage for having the lowest-paid city councilors in all the land, but some people seem to think that. But again, it does have a chilling effect to prohibit who can run for office.”