Boston City Council proposes $25,000 raise for representatives

The Boston City Council introduced legislation Wednesday proposing to increase the salaries of city councilors by $25,000.

The bill, proposed by City Council President Bill Linehan, would increase councilors’ yearly salaries from $87,500 to $112,500, a 28.6 percent raise.

In order for the legislation to be passed, seven of the 13 city councilors must vote in favor of the bill and Boston Mayor Martin Walsh must then sign it into law. Walsh will wait until the City Council votes before deciding whether he will approve a raise, said Kate Norton, Walsh’s spokeswoman.

“The City of Boston’s Corporation Counsel has confirmed that a vote for a council pay raise, unless it takes effect January 2016, would be a violation of the state ethics law,” Norton said in an email. “Mayor Walsh has been in office for nine months and is not seeking a pay raise. The Mayor has not expressed support or opposition to the possibility of City Council raises.”

The matter has been referred to the Council’s Committee on Government Operations for discussion at a future hearing, said Shaikh Hasib, spokesman for Councilor-at-Large Michael Flaherty, who also serves as committee chair.

“This matter is looking to make a change in the city’s code. It’s a government matter, and as a result, any matter of that sort gets assigned to government operations,” Hasib said. “There will be no changes done at the hearing itself, but if there is any information that is provided by testimony and if the councilors are swayed by that testimony, then changes can be considered, but that’s not definite.”

The hearing date has been set for Sept. 29 at Boston City Hall.

At Wednesday’s meeting, Councilor Josh Zakim of Back Bay and Councilor-at-Large Michelle Wu offered another ordinance that would establish an independent citizen commission to decide on councilors’ salaries in the future, said Kyndal Henicke, Zakim’s deputy chief of staff.

“Councilor Zakim wants this to be a fair process,” she said. “The issue of the number is not really what’s the biggest thing at stake, but it’s making this more of a collaborative and fair way of doing things and putting it in the hands of other people that pay taxes, that pay their [city councilors’] salaries.”

Zakim is not ready to say if he will vote in favor of the bill, Henicke said.

“Councilor Zakim’s position is that it seems to be a process that there needs to be a larger discussion around,” she said. “We really look forward to bringing that to the hearing and having that discussion there, and potentially continuing this discussion after the hearing.”

Several residents said they do not agree with the idea of a pay raise for city councilors.

Marcia Garvey, 49, of Beacon Hill, said the proposal seems excessive, especially given councilors’ current salaries.

“If you can decide on your own pay raise, I’d give myself a $25,000 pay raise tomorrow, too,” she said. “A raise should reflect the work they’re doing, because I’m not sure that anyone else’s pay raise is based on increases in the cost of living. It seems like it should be based on the work that they’re doing and how well they’re doing it.”

Seana Crellin, 44, of Back Bay, said she would prefer to see councilors’ salaries increase gradually as opposed to jumping 28.6 percent in a single vote.

“That’s a pretty huge percentage increase, so it’s surprising to me,” she said. “… As a taxpayer, instead of it being a one-time large increase like that, I’d rather see it phased in over time.”

Jason Winmill, 43, of Beacon Hill, said he does not agree with the pay raise, but he is open to having an outside committee consider the proposal.

“The job is an important one,” he said. “…In the corporate world, that’s a significant amount of money. I happen to like the City Councilors that I know and I tend to think that they do a good job. But the private sector would certainly scrutinize that kind of number.”