The City Council is planning to vote on giving itself and other local elected officials — including the mayor — pay raises in the final days of this year’s legislative session, the Daily News has learned.
Councilwoman Nantasha Williams, a Democrat who represents a slice of southeastern Queens, plans to introduce a bill Tuesday to enact the raises, according to three sources familiar with the matter. Exact details of the legislation weren’t immediately known, but one of the sources said it’s likely to be modelled on a compounded 16% cost of living increase that municipal workers recently received retroactively over a five year period.
Williams didn’t immediately return a request for comment Saturday.
New York City
Barry Williams for New York Daily News New York City Council Member Nantasha Williams speaks during a press conference on Thursday, May 11, 2023, in Manhattan, New York. (Barry Williams for New York Daily News)
Council members currently make about $148,000 annually and last got pay bumps in 2016.
The mayor makes about $258,000, while the public advocate pulls in about $184,000 and the city comptroller earns roughly $210,000. Borough presidents, who are also expected to be impacted by any raises enacted by the Council, make about $180,000 per year.
The Council would likely vote on Williams’ bill at the chamber’s last full meeting of the year, scheduled for Dec. 18, and the taxpayer-funded raises would then kick in next year, per the sources.
That would mean a number of local elected leaders who are leaving office at the end of the year, including Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, Mayor Eric Adams, Comptroller Brad Lander and a long list of term-limited Council members, would not enjoy the raises. Incoming Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who takes office Jan. 1, would see the raise reflected in his salary, as would Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.
Councilwoman Williams, who would also get the pay raise as she will remain in the Council next year, already has roughly 30 co-sponsors lined up for the bill, and Speaker Adams is not expected to oppose it, likely meaning it’s on a glide-path to pass, the sources said.
It was not immediately clear if Mayor Adams — who dumped his reelection bid amid fallout from his corruption indictment — is inclined to sign the bill into law or if he might be opposed to it. His spokespeople didn’t immediately return requests for comment.
A rep for Speaker Adams said he couldn’t comment on a bill that hasn’t been introduced yet.
In previous rounds of wage hikes for local elected officials, the city has empaneled commissions to study the issue. It was not immediately clear if such a move will be part of Williams’ legislation.
