An agenda item to go before the council on Monday night proposes increasing the councillor allowance by 22 per cent from $20,690 to $25,310 a year, while the mayor's additional allowance would increase by 38 per cent from $45,140 to $62,510 a year.

In 2020, the Local Government Remuneration Tribunal moved Wagga from the 'rural regional' to 'regional centre' category, making councillors eligible for significant pay rises.

But with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic and the pressure mounting on the council's budget, councillors voted to forgo the higher allowances and save tens of thousands of dollars.

However, the report before council states: "It is now appropriate for Wagga Wagga City Council to consider resolving to pay councillors and mayoral allowance at the maximum allowable level determined in its currently assigned category - the regional centre category."

Deputy mayor Jenny McKinnon said there was a general feeling among councillors that the pay increase is fair.

"A bit of our reasoning has to do with encouraging young people to put themselves forward for council," she said.

"When we say remuneration, it's not really any kind of a wage, it's just really an honorarium at the moment. It's a very small amount of money for the time that councillors put in."

Cr McKinnon said that councils have long been dominated by independently wealthy or retired residents.

"That does not represent the community very well," said Cr McKinnon, who estimates she devotes about four days a week to her council duties.

"We actually need to encourage young people, more women, people from diverse backgrounds."

Cr Amelia Parkins said she supports the pay increase for similar reasons.

"At the moment, it's really hard for people to juggle work and committing to council, and I think that's been one of the barriers for getting a diverse range of people onto council," she said.

"We don't do it for the money - 20 or 25 grand a year is not really enough to live on and it is a lot of work. With that in mind, I would support an increase, just to try and encourage more people in the future to give this a crack."

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Between attending and preparing for council meetings, and community engagement and events, Cr Parkins estimates she does over 20 hours a week, on top of her state government role in bushfire grant funding.

Cr Richard Foley, who operates a small business, said there exists a false perception that councillors are excessively paid.

"We put our hand up to be elected, but I didn't put my hand up for any lucrative payday, because it certainly isn't," he said.

Wagga Residents and Ratepayers Association's Lynne Bodell also supported a wage increase.

"I could see that a small pay rise would be reasonable to consider," she said.

"If you actually work out the hours they put in, if you are working full time, it is very difficult to really do it.

"That's why, obviously, a lot of them are retired or part-time working at this stage."

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