Recent news reports about the six-figure salaries of part-time city officials and administrators in medium-sized, largely working-class Bell, California, have raised questions about the salaries of local officials.

Doug Schultze, Normandy Park city manager, described the situation as highly unusual. While Schultze makes $113,400 per year according to the Normandy Park Human Resources department, his counterpart in Bell brought home a salary of $787,637.

"It reflects poorly on everyone in local government," Schultze said of the situation. He added that citizens would likely be unable to find local city staff with similarly stratospheric salaries.

Normandy Park council members and the mayor serve voluntarily. Normandy Park has a population of approximately 6,400 residents.

According to the Des Moines annual budget, the city manager's salary may range from $120,396 to $146,352. The 2000 census listed its population at 29,267 residents. City council members are paid $250 per meeting, and the mayor is paid $350 per meeting.

In SeaTac (population 25,730), Payroll Coordinator Linda King noted that council members earn $12,000 per year, and the mayor earns $14,400. The interim city manager currently makes $141,258.

The Burien municipal code states that council members earn $7,200 per year, with the mayor collecting an annual salary of $9,000. The city manager currently makes $131,244 each year. Burien's population is about 42,000 residents.

The Tukwila biennial budget lists the salaries of council members at $12,600 per year. Elected mayor Jim Haggerton makes $89,664 annually and presides over a population of 18,080 residents.