Fresh from announcing a $150 million budget surplus, Tucson City Manager Mike Ortega is getting a $53,000-a-year raise.
The City Council has increased his base salary by 21.4%, boosting Ortega’s base pay from $247,000 to $300,000 a year.
Council members heaped plaudits on the city manager before voting unanimously Tuesday to approve his new two-year contract.
“You’ve done an incredible job at every level,” said Mayor Regina Romero, praising Ortega as “ethical, honest and hard-working” and a role model for future city leaders.
Romero said at a recent study session the council conducted an in-depth review of Ortega’s performance this year known as a 360-degree review, which involved seeking input from city employees, the business community and other non-government groups that interact with the city manager’s office. The mayor said Ortega has played a major role in improving the city’s finances.
Ward 5 council member Richard Fimbres called the city manager’s performance “outstanding,” and Ward 2 council member Paul Cunningham said Tucson is “very lucky” to have Ortega on the payroll.
Ortega said he was “very humbled and very much honored” by the positive feedback from his bosses.
Ortega, a former administrator for Cochise County southeast of Tucson, has held the top job at Tucson City Hall since 2015.
He now oversees a $2 billion budget in a city of 543,000 people spread across 240 square miles.
The pay raise puts Ortega second among the highest base salaries paid to local public administrators, not including the University of Arizona.
Pima Community College Chancellor Lee Lambert tops the list with a base salary of just under $352,000.
The third-highest paid, Pima County Administrator Jan Lesher, has a base pay of $270,000 a year.
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Most of the victims were "elderly or older women" including one not far from Tucson, court records show.
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