DULUTH — Duluth Mayor Don Ness says he wants his salary to stay put despite a vote to grant him a nearly $20,000 raise.

The mayor announced Tuesday that he would refuse the raise approved by the city council the night before.

Ness turned down the money while calling the deliberations “uncomfortable and a bit painful.” The mayor’s salary would have gone from $78,000 to $97,500 — the first time in 14 years that a raise was approved for the position.

Ness said he would have turned down any size of a raise and wants to see the issue addressed after his term ends. Chief Administrative Officer David Montgomery said the money will simply stay in the city’s general fund.