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Council approves 3% increase to mayor’s salary beginning January 2026 after committee recommendation
Summary
Following a 3–2 committee vote recommending a 3% adjustment, the City Council approved a 3% increase to the mayor’s salary by a 6–5 roll-call vote; councilors debated timing given tight budgets and employee retention concerns.
The City Council voted to approve a 3% increase in the mayor’s salary to take effect in January 2026, following a recommendation from the Administration and Finance Committee.
Committee background: The committee reviewed comparative mayoral compensation for similar-size Massachusetts cities and heard from Human Resources Director Lisa Cammarata and Finance Director Anna Friedman. The committee’s recommendation — a 3% increase starting January 2026 and no second-year adjustment — passed by a 3–2 committee vote.
Council debate: Supporters argued incremental cost-of-living adjustments prevent large future jumps and help retain qualified candidates for the office. Councilor Stott said the salary had not been increased in several years and called incremental adjustments “best practice.” Councilor Watzenfeld noted the math of missed COLA increases and said not granting the increase would make subsequent adjustments larger.
Opposition: Several councilors said they opposed the increase because of current fiscal pressure and staffing shortages in other departments. Councilor Davis and Councilor Harvey cited tight budgets and difficulty in retaining staff in public works and other departments as reasons to defer the raise.
Vote: The roll-call vote on the increase passed 6–5. The change applies to mayoral compensation beginning January 2026 and will also affect proportional pay for councilors and the school committee, which are set as a percentage of the mayor’s salary.
