Bainbridge Island City Manager Doug Schulze may become one of the best-paid city managers in the state following the city council’s increase in his annual salary this week.

The Bainbridge Island City Council will consider a new contract for Schulze at its meeting Tuesday.

If the new employment is approved, Schulze’s pay will rise to $170,000 annually. That’s a roughly $15,000-a-year increase over what he makes now.

Schulze was hired in December 2012, and his annual pay was set at $150,000. He was expected to earn $155,287 in salary this year.

According to a 2015 salary survey of city managers and administrators across Washington state, Schulze will rank as the 18th best-paid manager of all cities in the state once his new contract kicks in.

The salary study, conducted by the Association of Washington Cities, covered 130 cities and towns across Washington state; four cities (Spokane, Bonney Lake, Toppenish and Sequim) did not provide salary details for their chief administrative officer.

With the exception of Schulze, and the city manager of Covington, all of the city managers/administrators who are in the top 20 in terms of pay in Washington work for cities that are larger than Bainbridge. Most double Bainbridge in population, or are much, much larger.

Schulze’s peers at similar-sized cities make, on average, less than what Schulze received as his base pay when he began work for Bainbridge at the end of 2012.

According to the AWC salary study, the average annual salary in 2015 for a city manager/administrator in cities between 15,000 to 29,999 in population is $147,768.

Bainbridge city council members will review the new 10-page employment contract for Schulze at their meeting Tuesday.

While Schulze has not yet had a performance review completed for 2015, he received high marks in his last performance review in 2014.

He scored an 8.9 on a scale to 10 in leadership, which prompted Councilman Val Tollefson to write in the review: “Based on my perception of morale and relations between staff, council and the community, my sense is that Doug is proving himself to be a very effective leader. A ’10’ would have required him to have seized on a particular initiative (or two), and used his position to publicly and effectively advocate until it was accomplished. I believe Doug has been looking for an opportunity to do this, but apparently hasn’t found it yet.”

Not everything in the 2014 evaluation was glowing praise, however. Schulze was faulted for being reactive rather than proactive, as well as being adverse to risk and reluctant to jump into the fray on the more challenging issues facing the city.

Councilman Roger Townsend added this to the 2014 performance review: “Doug has a good understanding of the complicated dynamics with Bainbridge politics. He generally stays out of the political issues and this is a safe approach. Personally, I would like to see him get more directly involved in some of the more problematic political hornet nests. His mere appearance at some of these events would have a positive impact to convey to citizens that he hears them. I have no doubt, however, that he is listening and aware of all of the issues that are going on.”

Schulze previously was the city manager in Normandy Park, and before he took on that job in 2006, he served as city manager in Medina for a decade. He has also been a city administrator for the city of Sandstone, Minnesota (1992 to 1996) and assistant city administrator in Savage, Minn. (1988 to 1992).

Schulze has a master’s degree in urban and regional studies from Minnesota State University, and a bachelor’s degree in public administration from Minnesota State University.

City managers/administrators in Washington state, ranked by pay

Rank    City        Monthly salary        City Population

1. Tacoma*               $19,614        202,300

2. Bellevue                $19,121        135,000

3. Vancouver             $16,583        170,400

4. Sammamish          $16,133          49,980

5. Kirkland                $15,539          84,640

6. Bothell                  $15,501          42,640

7. Issaquah*             $15,445          33,330

8. Yakima                 $14,948          93,220

9. Pasco                   $14,728          68,240

10. Marysville           $14,700          64,140

11. Mercer Island      $14,677          23,480

12. Spokane Valley* $14,654           93,340

13. Richland*           $14,603           53,080

14. Covington*         $14,595           18,520

15. Kennewick*        $14,483           78,290

16. Kent*                 $14,450         122,900

17. Renton*              $14,436          98,470

18. Bainbridge Island $14,166          23,390

19. Shoreline             $13,911          54,500

20. Des Moines*        $13,739          30,100

* Upper end of salary scale shown.