NYC Council weighs first salary hike for top elected officials since 2016
Attempts to raise salaries for New York City’s top elected officials are moving ahead after an independent commission recommended an 18.2% increase, the first potential raise since 2016.
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Attempts to raise salaries for New York City’s top elected officials are moving ahead after an independent commission recommended an 18.2% increase, the first potential raise since 2016.
The City Council held a hearing Tuesday on new legislation that would boost pay for positions including the mayor, City Council speaker, council members, the borough presidents, comptroller, public advocate and district attorneys.
Both Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Speaker Julie Menin have said they would decline any raise during their first terms.
The Quadrennial Advisory Commission, appointed by Mamdani earlier this year, is legally required to review elected officials’ salaries every four years. The commission did not convene under the two previous administrations.
Chair Carl Weisbrod told council members that inflation since 2022 was a major factor behind the recommended increase.
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"We felt all elected officials took office with the understanding of what their salaries would be in January 2022, and we have gone through a period of intense inflation,” Weisbrod said. “It is on that basis we reached our 18.2%.”
New York City elected officials oversee the largest municipal population in the country, with the exception of Los Angeles, yet their salaries rank sixth nationally, behind Los Angeles, Philadelphia and San Francisco. Even with the proposed raise, New York would still trail those cities.
"New York City is the largest city in the country, the most complex city in the country, for sure. The proposed salary of the mayor is still less than those in some other cities, " said Weisbrod.
Commission members and government watchdog groups argued that competitive pay is necessary to attract qualified candidates who can afford to serve while supporting their households.
Council Member Gale Brewer noted that other cities with higher pay operate with smaller budgets and workforces.
“All of those cities have much smaller budgets and much smaller workforces,” Brewer said.
Mamdani reiterated that he will not accept a raise but said the decision is up to other elected officials.
“I leave it to them to make that decision, as well as to the City Council in their debate over this legislation,” he said. “I will not be taking a raise.”
The City Council is expected to vote on the proposal later this summer.
