When a city wants to give its workers raises, it is common practice to give the public as much information as it wants to get buy-in from the people who pay the taxes to support the government.

Most cities know the backlash is not worth it, and being open and honest pays off in the long run.

The city of Arlington apparently did not get that memo. That city’s politicians did not do a very good job of playing politics during recent budget discussions.

Council members Marilyn Oertle and Debora Nelson were right on target last week, asking for exact numbers for the raises and wanting to know what cities of similar size pay their workers.

City staff did not respond to their concerns, but it should have.

The city would only say that the raises are within the pay scale set for each job. While that is true, the council – representing taxpayers – has a right to know how much a position was paid last year, and how much that position will be paid in 2015.

The council also was told that $161,000 less would be spent on salaries anyway because of staff reductions. But maybe the council might want to spend at least some of that money elsewhere.

It is not like we don’t think city employees in Arlington deserve a raise, especially if they haven’t received one in years or they are taking on new or additional duties. It is just that we believe taxpayers deserve to know what is going on. By not being open about it, that makes us skeptical. Oretle could not even find out how much the city administrator would make, having to hear about it on the street.

It is a shame Oertle and Nelson didn’t hold strong to their objections. They voted with the majority and approved the budget this week. Oertle said there just wasn’t time to fight it because of the holiday and the deadline of Dec. 31 for budget passage.

After the budget passed the city did provide us with more details, but we still never got to see exactly how big some of the raises are.

One good thing that should come about from this is the city will start discussing the budget in the spring instead of fall so the council, and taxpayers, can get the answers they deserve. Also, Oertle said she was promised that the city’s entire pay structure will be looked at in 2015.

That would be a good idea. It does not seem right for our state’s governor to make $170,000 a year and for the city administrator in Arlington to make $154,000 a year.

Oertle said it best, “The council and mayor work for taxpayers, not to stuff the staff’s pocketbooks.”