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Council committee hears plan to implement quadrennial commission's 18.2% pay recommendation for elected officials
Summary
The New York City Council committee reviewed a pre-considered bill that would codify the Quadrennial Advisory Commission's June report recommending an 18.2% pay increase for city elected officials, shift commission timing and extend its reporting window; witnesses supported the raise but raised concerns about a proposed automatic inflation backstop.
The New York City Council's Committee on Government Cooperation, State and Federal Legislation heard testimony on a pre-considered bill to implement the Quadrennial Advisory Commission's recommendations, including an 18.2% across-the-board pay increase for the mayor, public advocate, controller, borough presidents, city council members and district attorneys.
The commission released its report on June 23 and recommended the 18.2% figure as a correction for cost-of-living changes since January 2022, Carl Weisbrod, identified in the hearing as the commission's chair, told the committee. "We came up with our 18.2% because that represents the increase in the cost of living since January 2022," Weisbrod said, and the panel proposed making the increase effective in January 2026.
Why it matters: The commission also recommended structural changes to the commission process intended to prevent long gaps between reviews. Those recommendations include shifting future quadrennial commissions to the third year of elected terms, extending the commission's report window from 75 to 120 days and providing a mechanism to ensure raises occur if a commission is not convened.
Committee members questioned the methodology and retroactivity. Chair Brewer asked how the 18.2% was calculated and why the recommendation would be retroactive to January 2026 rather than later in 2026; Weisbrod said the figure reflected cumulative cost-of-living changes and that the commission relied on analytic support from the City University institute to meet its statutory deadline. "We submitted our report exactly on the 75th day," Weisbrod said, noting the commission's limited staff.
Civic groups at the hearing broadly supported the pay increase as a way to attract diverse candidates and reduce incentives for conflicting outside income. Grace Rao, executive director of Citizens Union, said her organization supported the 18.2% increase but cautioned that certain commission recommendations—particularly an automatic inflation-adjustment backstop—could reduce the incentive to convene future commissions and thereby limit public hearings and qualitative review. Rachel Foss of Reinvent Albany also urged transparency measures, including publishing an elected-official salary table on the comptroller's website, and recommended coupling any pay change with stronger financial disclosure and ethics reforms.
Public comment included Christopher Leon Johnson, who urged eliminating the ban on outside income and raising council pay to at least $200,000 to attract candidates who currently earn more in the private sector.
No formal vote was recorded at the hearing; the committee concluded after questions and testimony and the bill remains under consideration.
