New York City Council members voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to approve an 18% salary increase, raising their annual pay to $175,500. The measure, passed with a 42-6 vote, also increases the mayor's salary to $305,800, backdated to the start of the new term in January.
The pay raise follows a record-breaking $126 billion city budget approval. A previous attempt to pass a 16% hike at the end of the previous year failed.
This latest effort was supported by a recommendation from a "Quadrennial Commission" that studied elected officials' salaries. The commission's report suggested an 18.2% raise to account for inflation and cost of living increases, and also recommended automatic annual raises of at least 2%. However, the automatic raise provision was removed from the final bill.
Councilman Phil Wong, one of the six members who voted against the measure, cited the financial struggles of his constituents. "In my district, there are so, so many constituents that are living paycheck to paycheck and having problems making ends meet," Wong stated. "So, I cannot vote onto a bill to increase salaries for myself."
Council Speaker Julie Menin, who abstained from the vote, announced she would not accept the raise. Menin stated that while the council had pushed for raises for middle-income city workers, their efforts had not been successful.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who ran on an affordability platform, also stated he would not accept the pay increase. "I will not accept a pay raise," Mamdani said, adding that he had not encountered any New Yorkers concerned about the mayor's salary being too low.
Council Minority Leader David Carr expressed concern about elected officials voting on their own pay, suggesting that raises should be tied to managerial employee increases or automatic cost-of-living adjustments, similar to Congress.