Salaries for local-body elected members are set by the Remuneration Authority.
Ms Main said she was comfortable with her salary increase, because the council had followed the correct process as required by the Remuneration Authority.
Councillor Michael Laws is one of six councillors to receive just over $25,000 per annum.
During his time as mayor, Mr Laws donated his mayoral salary to charity, although he declined to say which charities he supported.
As a councillor, he has continued both of those practices.
"All my 2011 council salary has already been expended upon charitable purposes, including the support of Christchurch families after the earthquake," Mr Laws said.
He would not comment further on the charities he supported.
"As a matter of policy, I believe no local-body officials, including mayors, should be paid. They do less work than many other unpaid volunteers."
Councillor Ray Stevens said he believed councillors' remuneration should be based on meeting attendance.
"We should have a small base salary and be paid a meeting allowance, like we used to," he said. "I believe that's fairer - and it means that those who turn up and do the work get compensated for it."
Mr Stevens is also a member of the Whanganui District Health Board and said that was how all its members were remunerated.
"You turn up, you get paid."
Remuneration Authority deputy chairwoman Angela Foulkes said councils were expected to spend the entire pool of money they were given.
"Councils can recommend how we divvy that pool up, and unless there's serious dissent we will usually go with their recommendations."
Ms Foulkes said the authority calculated a pool of money for all territorial authorities throughout New Zealand.
How that pool was spread among councils depended on population, assets and council expenditure, she said.
"There's a disparity between councils. It's likely that the mayor of Wellington will have a bigger job to do than the mayor of Wanganui, and the mayor of Wanganui will have a bigger job to do than the mayor of Stratford."
Ms Foulkes said councils could not refuse to take money from the Remuneration Authority.
"The reason councils must take the money is to prevent politicking, which can be very destructive."
A review had recently been carried out on mayoral salaries, which resulted in a pay rise for some mayors.
Ms Foulkes said a review of councillors' and community boards' salaries would be carried out before the 2012 financial year began.
* NOTE: The Wanganui District Council suppiled the incorrect information for the salaries given to community board members. The total annual remuneration for the Wanganui Rural Community Board chair is $7,326, for Rural Community Board Representatives To Council $5,000 and for Rural Community Board Members $4,000.
