Update 9:30 p.m.
A divided Billings City Council approved a 3 percent annual cost-of-living increase for City Administrator Chris Kukulski Tuesday night.
The Council voted 6 to 5 to approve the hike, which increases Kukulski's base pay to about $218,000 annually, at the end of its four-hour meeting.
Voting yes were Mayor Bill Cole and Council members Kendra Shaw, Ed Gulick, Scott Aspenlieder, Mike Boyett and Tom Rupsis. The no votes were Council members Bill Kennedy, Jennifer Owen, Daniel Tidswell, Roy Neese and TJ Rogers.
Neese offered an amendment: a 3 percent annual rate increase or the 10-year average of the federal cost-of-living rate, whichever is less. That amendment failed in the same split.
The Billings City Council is discussing a 3 percent pay increase for City Administrator Chris Kukulski at its Tuesday night meeting.
The pay increase is in line with similar cost-of-living increases he received in 2021, 2022 and 2023. In 2024, the city chose to forgo the pay increase at a time when many residents were frustrated with high water bills.
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Kukulski has worked in Billings for six years and currently receives a base salary of $212,000 a year.
“I made a request that going forward. There would be a cost-of-living increase of 3% each July one,” Kukulski said.
Mayor Bill Cole told MTN News last week that “Chris suggested that he not be given any pay increase for the last year from July 1 of 2024 to June 30 of 2025.”
The city administrator is typically the highest-paid employee on city staff.
“It's a pleasure to get to serve in this capacity,” Kukulski said Tuesday.
The conversation is long overdue. Back in November, the City Council held off on approving a raise, choosing to wait until an audit of the city’s utility billing system was complete.
At that time, many residents had questions about water bills, prompting the audit, which found no major discrepancies.
“The audit also acknowledged that there were individual errors but that the city had dealt with those,” Cole said.
Fast forward to Tuesday, and the discussion of Kukulski’s salary is finally back on the table.
Cole acknowledges that Kukulski has served Billings well.
“He's helped build a respectful, productive relationship with our unions and with about 1,000 city employees,” Cole said.
