This is an election year for the mayor’s seat and City Council seats in Washington, which means the city will pay the Beaufort County Board of Elections to conduct mayoral and council elections.

Washington’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2017-2018, which begins July 1, allocates $6,870 for the elections, $5,900 for the council races and $970 for the mayoral race. The 2015 mayoral and council elections cost the city $6,421.23, according to Kellie Harris Hopkins, elections director for Beaufort County.

“I bill them. We used to send the bills to them and let them pay each bill, but over the course of the years, what we do is we pay all the bills upfront and then send them one summary at the end and they reimburse us,” Hopkins said. “That’s for all seven municipalities.”

In Beaufort County, municipal elections are set for Nov. 7.

The proposed budget allocates $31,295 for the five council members’ salaries in the upcoming fiscal year, or $6,259 for each council member, the amount they currently receive. The proposed spending plan calls for the mayor to be paid $10,953 during the next fiscal year, the same salary he currently is paid.

Each of the council members and the mayor receive $500 for individual “employee development” in the proposed budget, which allocates $800 toward the mayor’s expenses and $6,000 toward the council’s expenses to attend functions such as Town Hall Day meetings with legislators, N.C. League of Municipalities meetings and the annual Washington-Beaufort County Chamber of Commerce banquet.

Council members determine their compensation be adopting the annual budget ordinance. Council members are entitled to reimbursement for expenses incurred while performing their official duties at rates that do not exceed those allowed to other city officers and employees. Council members may opt to be paid a fixed allowance, to be determined by the council, for travel and other personal expenses of office. However, any increase in a fixed allowance does not take effect until the next term of office.

If the council increased the salaries of its members in the upcoming budget, that increase would not take effect until next council takes office in December, in effect resulting in the current council not giving its members a salary increase.

The same rules apply to the mayor’s compensation.