APEX - This summer, when the Apex Town Council decided to give employees a $1,000 pay increase, they also gave themselves a boost.

At least two council members - Bill Jensen and Gene Schulze - say they did so unknowingly and plan to give back the additional funds, totaling $6,000 a year.

The $1,000 raise became an issue during the recent mayoral campaign, when challenger Bryan Gossage accused incumbent Keith Weatherly of supporting a pay raise for the council.

Weatherly disputed the claim, citing he only voiced support for an increase in the salaries for employees to keep up with cost-of-living expenses, not for a council raise.

It turns out they may both right due to an obscure motion made in 1989 by what was then called the Apex Board of Commissioners.

The board voted "that cost-of-living increases for the town employees, if granted for the same amount, be passed on to the Mayor and Commissioners," according to the minutes of the Dec. 5, 1989, meeting. So the recent vote to approve the $1,000 increase for employees also applied to the council members.

Both council members Jensen and Schulze said they had no idea the $1,000 raise applied to them.

"If I would have known that, I would have asked for the council to be exempted," Jensen said.

While the council debated in June over whether to give merit pay or an across-the-board increase to staff to keep up with rising costs of inflation, no discussion came up about council salaries.

The motion made June 7, and seconded by Jensen, was that "$1,000 in base pay be given to each employee that performs at the acceptable level."

Schulze said his impression during the meeting was that the increase was a one-time bonus. "It was not a cost-of-living adjustment," Schulze said. "A cost-of-living adjustment is based on a the consumer price index. A thousand dollars to everyone is not a CPI."

However, when Town Manager Bruce Radford presented the budget to council he did so with the recommendation of a cost-of-living increase.

His recommendation was "$1,000 be given to each employee equal to a 2 percent increase, having considered the cost of living index, and would equal about $40 per employee (paycheck) over the course of the year," stated the meeting minutes.

Schulze said he plans to follow up with the town manager and move to return the council's increase. "I think it's a matter of principle," Schulze said.

Radford notified council members Lance Olive and Gossage, a councilman at the time, that the adjustments would apply to the council. Both served on the council's personnel committee.

Olive and Gossage both voted against the across-the-board increase and motioned for a merit-based raise, which failed. Neither mentioned the council's potential raise during the June budget discussions.

Olive said his proposal for the merit-based system would have eliminated the council's raise.

The merit-based raise "wouldn't impact me because I don't get reviewed. That was intentional," Olive said. "When we discussed that, our focus was recommending that this was a better plan."

Gossage said it was weak for anyone to plead ignorance of the raise increase. "It's not right to pass the buck," Gossage said. "There was a vote on the raise package. The 'I didn't know' excuse falls flat."

Even with the $1,000 increase, Apex's Town Council makes less than other area municipalities.

According to Radford, Weatherly now makes $9,861 a year. This is less than almost every mayor in southwestern Wake County, according to a survey by The Cary News. Holly Springs Mayor Dick Sears leads the area with an annual salary of $14,758.20. In Cary, Harold Weinbrecht makes $12,995; in Fuquay-Varina, John Byrne makes $10,011.04. Morrisville's Jackie Holcombe brings in $11,515 a year.

Apex council members earn $7,677 a year, less than almost every area municipality except for Holly Springs. Holly Springs council members make $6,358.20 a year.

The last time, the Apex Town Council had a raise was in July 2008, when salaries were increased by 3 percent, Radford said.