The City Council will not vote this year to increase salaries for its members, the mayor and other local elected officials as doing so would violate local law, according to sources familiar with the decision.
As first reported by the Daily News this past weekend, Queens Councilwoman Nantasha Williams had planned to introduce a bill on Tuesday that would give local elected officials five-figure salary bumps — with the hope the legislation could be voted on Dec. 18.
In a private meeting Monday, Jeff Baker, a top legislative official in Council Speaker Adrienne Adams’ office, informed members that the Council cannot vote on the bill this year because of a section in the City Charter that bars the chamber from increasing salaries during the lame duck period in a local election year, three sources with direct knowledge told the Daily News.
Accordingly, it’s not expected Williams’ bill can be put up for a vote until January at the earliest, Baker added, per the sources.
Baker also told members of the chamber the plan is still for Williams to introduce her bill Tuesday, the sources said.
The reversal comes after the initial plan to bump wages this year drew outrage from government watchdogs.
“This isn’t just bad optics. It’s actually illegal. The City Charter expressly prohibits the Council from approving pay raises after Election Day for good reason: to prevent self-interested decisions by elected officials who won’t face voters again for another 4 years,” the Citizens Union wrote on X on Saturday in response to The News’ report.
Late Monday, Williams told The News she’s still introducing the bill this week because it can “lay the groundwork” for passage in 2026.
The bill will need to be reintroduced next year no matter what as it is a new legislative session. But Williams noted the bill can get a hearing in 2025 and go through other aspects of the legislative process, putting it on a track to be granted “pre-considered” status next year that would allow it to move to an immediate vote after re-introduction.
There could be a complicating factor in that there will be a new Council speaker next year, and it’s unclear if that person will be inclined to jack up salaries for elected officials as one of the first acts of the new session. Zohran Mamdani will also be mayor next year, replacing outgoing Mayor Eric Adams.
The last time city elected officials got a raise was in 2016. Neither former Mayor Bill de Blasio nor Mayor Adams met in their outgoing the terms of a local law requiring them to convene a panel to study whether pay increases are warranted for elected officials.
Council members currently make about $148,000 annually, while the mayor makes about $258,000. 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 around $180,000 per year.
Williams’ bill would be based on a 16% cost-of-living adjustments tens of thousands of municipal government workers got earlier this year as part of a collective bargaining agreement. Under that formula, Council members would get about a $24,000 raise, Williams previously said.
Supporters of Williams’ bill say it’s long overdue for them to get a raise. “This has been part of internal conversations for quite some time,” Williams said.
