It depends on if the City Council lets whoever holds the top job decide whether to be part time or full time.

The current mayor, Don Richardson, replaced an embattled full-time mayor and expected part-time work. After a few long weeks, he gradually cut back to a little more than 20 hours a week and switched to an hourly wage based on an annual rate of $34,991 - half his predecessor's pay.

But, in an effort to avoid timecard hassles, he wants to switch to an annual part-time salary.

That proposal hit a snag this week when council members and a resident pointed out the full-time rate included benefits and may need to be adjusted.

The council delayed a vote so the city attorney could clean up the proposed ordinance.

Councilman David Blackburn said it needed to be more flexible and allow the council to easily alter the pay rate based on an incoming mayor's time commitment.

Eagle Mountain will vote for a two-year mayor in November before getting back to a four-year term in 2009. High turnover - nine mayors in 10 years - has disrupted the terms.

"We need something that's understandable, something that can be changed as needed, but is understandable to the layman, to the new councils and to the city staff," Blackburn said.

Resident Tiffany Ulmer urged the council to set pay rates for full-time, three-quarter-time and part-time mayors, then let candidates include their preference as part of their platform so the council doesn't have to keep tweaking the law.

"I'm tired of it being changed based on who comes in, and I think the council has the mayor by the neck," Ulmer said. "This is not easily changed."

The compensation ordinance also would increase the council's pay from $325 a month to $600.

These proposed changes are the second part of the budget amendment. The council increased city employees' pay rates in February in a move Richardson hoped would prevent staffers from fleeing to other cities. The move came on the heels of a wage study that showed Eagle Mountain employees and council members made less than comparable cities. Councilwoman Linn Strouse opposes a pay hike for herself and her colleagues. She recommends that the measure be stripped from the package.

sgehrke@sltrib.com