COEUR d'ALENE - One councilman's proposal to have the City Council sign off on merit increases for department heads didn't get out of committee Monday.

The city's legal department said Monday during the Public Works subcommittee meeting that giving the City Council the ability to vote on individual merit pay increases for department heads would go beyond the body's power.

Instead, it's the mayor who is charged with administrative and staff review, not the city council, which, rather, has the oversight of the budget, deputy city attorney Warren Wilson said.

Crossing the two would create a separation of powers problem, he said.

"That's my first blush at what the code seems to be speaking to," Wilson said.

Councilman Dan Gookin's proposal would have added the City Council as one of the review board before a department head were to receive a merit increase. Department heads are eligible for an up to 8 percent merit increase annually if they have not maxed out their income according to their job's pay scale. Typically, the deputy city administrator decides whether a department head will receive a pay increase after reviewing peer and employer evaluations on the department head, as well as a performance review. The mayor and city administrator also review the evaluations and weigh in.

Gookin asked for the City Council to be added to the oversight, which would have discussed the personnel issue behind closed doors during executive session meetings.

But if the City Council wants to approve or deny across the board department head merit increases, it could vote to deny that financial portion of the city' proposed budget.

Gookin said voting through the budget is the route he would pursue given the legal department's opinion of his proposal.