The Springfield City Council has unanimously approved a $40,000 for the mayor, beginning next year.

At its meeting Monday night, the city council gave final approval to a long-debated proposal increasing the Mayor’s annual salary from $95,000 to $135,000 dollars.

City Councilor Tim Rooke says the salary increase was part of a three-tiered program to professionalize the mayor’s office, by extending the mayor’s term from two to four years and establishing a strong chief administrative financial officer to avoid a repeat of the city’s fiscal crisis during the last decade.

“The last step was to increase the mayor’s salary so that it represented a salary that’s equal to or better than the city employees that work for us,” Rooke says. “Currently there are 120 employees who make more than the mayor.”

Rooke adds the salary increase represents a 2 percent cost of living adjustment over the past 17 years since the last mayor’s pay raise was approved.

Meanwhile, city councilors, who have not seen a pay raise in 18 years, also approved a $5,000 hike in their annual salary to $19,500, also effective in January.