Salary
Average Salary: $61,706
Expected Lifetime Earnings: $2,576,102
Unsurprisingly (or surprisingly, if you haven't been paying attention) the salaries of local politicians depend a lot on the size of the community. While the average salary is somewhere in the $40,000-$60,000 range, the actual spectrum of salary is much wider than that (source).
The amount of money you make for doing your job is very much related to the amount of taxes your municipality collects―fewer people means fewer taxes means fewer zeroes at the end of your paycheck. Depending on the way your little utopia runs, you may only receive funds to reimburse money you yourself spent on doing your job. If your village only contains seven or eight last names, you're likely volunteering your time and making your living doing something more productive like bass fishing.
On the other hand, if you're a local elected official of a major population hub or cultural center, you're going to be pulling in a mighty salary. City councilors in two-letter cities like NY, LA, DC, and...Chicago all make over $100,000, with other cities like SF (and we're back) and Boston (and we're gone) close behind (source). That may seem excessive, but it makes more sense when you consider that you're directly responsible for and answerable to the lives of millions of taxpayers.
Word of warning: Lobbyists, business people, activists, and even Grandma Anderson may try to swing your opinion with a little gift here or a little treat there. Know the law; there is often a fine line between "gifting" and "bribery." Just ask any of the dozens of local politicians who have lost their power and even gone to jail for things like that.
When you take your oath, you're making a contract with the people. If you do anything that makes the people think you're two-timing them, they're going to be quite displeased with you.