Panel: Boost pay for NYC officials by 12% or more

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio holds a roundtable with the media in the Governor's Room at City Hall in Manhattan on Monday, Dec. 21, 2015. De Blasio, who is halfway into his term, spoke about his accomplishments and was asked about his failings. Credit: Charles Eckert
An advisory panel recommended Monday that New York City elected officials’ base salaries be increased by at least 12 percent, giving the mayor, district attorneys and other posts what would be their first pay bump since 2006.
City Council members other than the speaker should receive a 23 percent pay boost to $138,315, the three-person Quadrennial Advisory Commission wrote in a 71-page report.
In exchange, the 51 lawmakers’ posts should be formally recognized as full-time — with outside employment limited — and the bonuses, known as lulus, they receive for chairing committees should be eliminated, the panel said.
The council speaker should make a total $154,375, the commission said. The post currently comes with a $112,500 base salary and a $25,000 lulu.
The $447,000 now budgeted each year for the lulus, which average $8,000 per recipient, should be folded into the salaries, the panel wrote.
Some council members had quietly lobbied for a 71 percent salary increase, according to a published report, a hike that Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito labeled “ridiculous” last month.
The independent commission, appointed by Mayor Bill de Blasio, recommended that the mayoral salary be raised to $258,750 from $225,000, the comptroller’s pay be boosted to $209,050 from $185,000 and the five borough presidents receive $179,200 instead of the current $160,000.
The panel made its recommendations to the mayor, who will have 30 days to review them before forwarding the report to the City Council.
De Blasio, who lives rent-free in Gracie Mansion and is chauffeured in the mayoral SUV by the NYPD, said in a statement he would not accept a pay raise this term.
Mark-Viverito said in a statement the council would review the recommendation. In written testimony earlier this month, she said many council members describe their job as “24/7” and deserve a pay hike, but she did not suggest a number.
Commission chairman Frederick A.O. Schwarz Jr. in an interview said the panel restrained the size of the raises because it took into account the economic hardships of everyday New Yorkers.
Government watchdog group Citizens Union urged the City Council to “delay the effective date until the beginning of the next term” — meaning January 2018 — and to “make the city officials’ financial disclosure statements available online.”
The group applauded the dropping of lulus as “critical to establishing a more fair pay scale for council members,” but said categorizing council positions as full-time “would not establish a specific cap on outside earned income.”
Elected city officials’ base salaries
Current vs. proposed
Mayor: $225,000, $258,750
Public advocate: $165,000, $184,800
Comptroller: $185,000, $209,050
City Council members: $112,500, $138,315
City Council speaker: $112,500, $154,375
Borough presidents: $160,000, $179,200
District attorneys: $190,000, $212,800

Things to do now on LI Rock climbing? Indoor beach volleyball? Water parks? Arts and crafts? NewsdayTV's Elisa DiStefano and Newsday deputy lifestyle editor Meghan Giannotta have your look at ways to spend your winter break.

Things to do now on LI Rock climbing? Indoor beach volleyball? Water parks? Arts and crafts? NewsdayTV's Elisa DiStefano and Newsday deputy lifestyle editor Meghan Giannotta have your look at ways to spend your winter break.