Pennsylvania’s township supervisors will be able to vote for themselves a pay raise over the next five years under a law Gov. Josh Shapiro signed Wednesday.

The measure could see the salaries of elected officials in the state’s nearly 1,500 second-tier townships rise by nearly 7% next year for the first time since 1995.

The pay increases will only take effect after a supervisor has run for office for a six-year term, which means the first benefit from this law will be in 2026 and will not fully apply to all supervisors until January 2030.

By passing an ordinance, supervisors in townships with fewer than 5,000 residents can increase their annual salaries to a maximum of $3,145, up from the current limit of $1,875. Supervisors in townships with 35,000 residents can increase their pay to $8,385, which is now capped at $5,000.

Elected officials in townships with populations between 5,000 and 34,999 have the option to increase their pay at prescribed levels in the law, which are between the maximums of $3,145 and $8,385.

The law also allows townships to adopt an ordinance to move to a per-meeting compensation scheme based on meeting attendance. That would prevent a salary from being paid to a supervisor who is absent from a meeting unless it is determined to be an excused absence.

The per-meeting compensation base would be limited to the maximum annual compensation levels permitted under this law.

“This optional increase is the responsibility of each board of supervisors as appropriate for their municipality,” said David Sanko, executive director of the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors.

In a previous interview with PennLive, Sanko provided this justification for the wage increase.

“Nobody does this job for the money,” he said. “There have been a lot of cost increases, so it’s an attempt to cover some expenses with rising inflation.”

A separate House-passed bill providing optional pay raises of nearly 7% for city council members and mayors could go before the Senate committee for consideration as early as next week.

Jan Murphy can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on X at @JanMurphy.