BATON ROUGE - The next mayor will earn $175,000 a year each year they are mayor thanks to a raise approved by the Metro Council Wednesday.

The pay increase is for a flat, four-year salary. The mayor will not earn any pay raises.

Voters in East Baton Rouge elect a new mayor in Fall 2016. Mayor Kip Holden is term-limited.

Holden made $106,000 when he was first elected almost 12 years ago. His salary has grown to $152,000 after numerous increases over his tenure.

The next mayor's new salary is a 14% increase from what Holden will earn in his last year. The issue had been deferred from several other meetings, with numbers as high as $225,000 thrown around, but the council decided that was too much.

Some council members, though, were frustrated the mayor's pay will increase at a percentage much higher than the 2% increase rank and file employees will receive.

The council also struck a provision allowing the mayor to accrue sick and vacation time. When Holden took office, he was allotted two weeks vacation and two weeks sick leave.

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