Only a commission can recommend any salary hikes
The sole reason for a city council salary increase, of dubious legality and violation of any sense of good governance, scheduled for January 1, was presented at a hearing yesterday. Bill sponsor Nantasha Williams of Queens said there hasn’t been a raise for the 51 Council members since 2016. That was echoed by Lincoln Restler of Brooklyn, who chaired the session.
But Williams and Restler have only been on the Council for four years, and they both knew their salaries were $148,500 when they first ran in 2021 and when they successfully ran for re-election this year. Thanks to term limits, when the new Council is sworn in in January, no member will have more than four years of continuous service, including the new President, Julie Menin.
There will also be 11 freshmen who just started their tenure: Simcha Felder, Frank Morano, Harvey Epstein, Virginia Maloney, Elsie Encarnacion, Justin Sanchez, Shanel Thomas-Henry, Tyrell Hankerson, Phil Wong and Kayla Santosuosso.
Yet should they all vote for an immediate increase to $172,500 themselves as one of their first acts? Certainly not. Menen must take another route.
The first plan of Williams and the other conspirators was for the lame-duck session of the Council to vote on the wage increase in December and for it to take effect on January 1. But this is clearly illegal under the City Charter, which states that the only time the Council cannot vote on its own compensation is between the November general election and January 1, to prevent lame ducks from appropriating more public funds.
Plan B was to hold a hearing during this session (like they did yesterday), then re-introduce the bill in January as “pre-considered” and take an immediate vote that same day. Sorry folks, any laws not passed during a single Council session die when the new body takes over. The 2026 version of the wage increase bill, which also provides raises for other city officials, will have a new number and will have to start from scratch.
And even measures considered in advance still need to be heard and approved by the speaker.
The rush to get money back is because Bill de Blasio and Eric Adams failed to appoint a four-year advisory commission to review pay levels in 2020 and 2024, as required by law. At the time, we urged both mayors to follow the law, but they chose not to.
Board compensation would probably need to be adjusted, but this should be done on the recommendation of one of these special committees. This must be an absolute for Menen.
Williams’ bill, which grants immediate raises and backdates them to Jan. 1, 2026, says the mayor must appoint a committee by the end of 2026, but that’s a step backwards. Have a commission first. If the panel recommends an increase, vote for the increase, but for it to take effect on January 1, 2027. It should actually take effect on January 1, 2030, after the next election, but an exception can be made this time, provided a significant change is made to the Charter.
The Charter must be amended to adopt language reflecting the 27th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: “No law modifying the compensation for the services of senators and representatives shall take effect until an election of representatives shall have taken place.” »
Furthermore, this permanent solution prohibiting any future self-increases must be included in the part of the Charter that can only be changed by a public vote in a referendum, because the Council can change most of the Charter on its own whenever it wants.
This year’s Charter Revision Commission should have included this fix on the November ballot. Put it on next year’s ballot. This will pass massively.
