Mayor's Pay Raise Sparks Council Scrutiny

The Debate Over Salary Increases for New York City Officials

The New York City Council's proposal to increase the salaries of its members and other top city officials has sparked significant controversy among government watchdogs, including Citizens Union and Common Cause. These organizations are not necessarily opposed to the salary increases themselves but are concerned about the manner in which the council is attempting to implement them.

Under the proposed plan, city council members, the mayor, the public advocate, borough presidents, and the comptroller would receive a 16% raise, while district attorneys would see a 6% increase. For council members, this would be their first raise since 2016, increasing their salary from $148,500 to $172,500. The council justifies the increase by citing the cost of living, increased job expectations, and comparable salary increases in other cities like Chicago.

Grace Rauh, executive director of Citizens Union, raised concerns during a recent hearing on the bill, emphasizing that the council’s decision to set its own recommendations without independent input could erode public trust in government. She pointed out that the city charter requires the mayor to convene an independent commission every four years to study and recommend changes to elected officials’ salaries. However, both mayors Bill de Blasio and Eric Adams failed to fulfill this requirement.

“For more than 50 years, every increase in the salaries of elected officials in New York City has followed the work of an independent compensation commission,” Rauh said. “The current proposal breaks from that precedent, offers no supporting analysis for the proposed 16% increase, and is being advanced in an 11th-hour manner to work around the very clear prohibition in the city charter that bars the council from raising pay during a lame duck period.”

Rauh also highlighted that the city charter prohibits the council from passing bills to increase their salaries during the lame duck period between Election Day and January 1, the start of a new term. Although the council is preparing the bill now and plans to vote on it in the new year, she argued that holding hearings on the bill during the lame duck period could lead to legal challenges.

New York Law School professor Stephen Louis noted that the council preparing and holding hearings on the bill does not necessarily break the law. He explained that as long as the bill is reintroduced and voted on outside of the lame duck period, it would not violate the charter. However, he acknowledged that the bill could still be considered inappropriate given the mayor’s failure to appoint the required commission.

Rauh and Samantha Sanchez, policy manager at Common Cause, emphasized during the hearing that they believe public officials deserve a raise but should seek it through other legislative means. Rauh suggested several options, including requiring Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani to establish an independent commission within his first month in office, allowing the council to create its own commission, or amending the law to ensure another elected official establishes a commission if the mayor fails to do so.

She also mentioned the possibility of seeking a court order compelling the mayor to appoint an independent commission. “The council has sued mayoral administrations in the past for failing to carry out local laws,” Rauh said. “That option has been available for several years and remains available today.”

Despite these concerns, the bill’s sponsor, Council Member Natasha Williams, and cosponsor, Council Member Lincoln Restler, argue that the salary increases must be enacted as soon as possible. They cited the near-decade-long gap since the last raise and the need to attract the best and brightest to public service. Additionally, they expressed concerns that the time it would take for a commission to provide recommendations might result in some council members never receiving a raise during their term.

[caption id="attachment_137818409" align="alignnone" width="700"] Council Member Nantasha Williams, who introduced the salary increase bill, listens to public testimony. Provided by New York City Council [/caption]

When asked about the impact of the groups' suggestions, Williams stated that she appreciated the testimony and intended to work with the incoming speaker and colleagues to craft a plan that supports a cost-of-living adjustment. If the bill passes next year, the mayor’s salary would increase from $258,750 to $300,500, the public advocate’s from $184,800 to $215,000, and all five borough presidents’ from $179,200 to $208,000. The comptroller’s salary would rise from $209,050 to $243,000, the city council speaker’s from $164,500 to $191,000, and all five district attorneys from $232,600 to $247,500.

The bill would also require the mayor to convene an advisory commission to review and make recommendations regarding the compensation levels of elected officials before the end of next year. This, according to Williams, demonstrates the council’s intent to have an independent commission make salary recommendations going forward after this. The bill is expected to be one of the first to come across Mamdani’s desk in the new year, though his press secretary did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether he would support the bill.