In a 5-4 vote Tuesday, the majority of Rochester City Council members voted to give themselves a 25% pay raise.
But immediately after the vote, some Councilmembers said they won't take the raise. One of them was Finance Committee Chair Mitch Gruber, who said he is "furious" at the way the vote played out and is also urging Mayor Malik Evans to veto the measure.
“Nobody is getting 25% raises,” Gruber said. “Not just nobody in City Hall, nobody. We are in an economy that is clearly, obviously, not doing well. People are struggling to make ends meet all over the place. No one's getting 25% raises. To give ourselves a 25% raise without any opportunity for conversation, is not fair to the taxpayers and the voters who put us in.”
Headed into Tuesday's meeting, City Council was set to vote on a 3% raise for its members, which would have made their salaries $41,413. And it would have set further 3% raises for each of the next three years.
The vote Tuesday night was slated to give the Rochester City Council a 3% pay raise, to $41,413, plus a 3% bump for the next three years. It’s a procedural vote, taken every four years, and meant as a cost-of-living adjustment.
But before the bill went to vote, Councilmember Michael Patterson offered an amendment, drastically increasing the amount Councilmembers would be paid by about 25%. Regular Councilmembers would now receive $50,000, and Council President would receive $60,000. The amendment to increase pay had not been discussed in Council committee meetings and had not been provided for public comment prior to the vote.
Council President Miguel Meléndez and Councilmembers Mitch Gruber, Willie Lightfoot, and Bridget Monroe voted no. Patterson did not return a request for comment. Council also approved an unamended pay increase for the mayor, to $176,040.
Meléndez said that there was no justification given for the specific number included in the amendment. He had hoped that Council could consult with an outside firm to determine the rate of pay appropriate for Councilmembers.
“I do think my colleagues all work hard,” Meléndez said. “I don't discredit them in that regard. But I just feel if we wanted to do this, we should have commissioned someone else on the outside to look at this, not just make a decision on our own.”
Councilmembers last raised their pay in 2021 when they set their salaries at $36,939, with a 3% pay increase in subsequent years through 2025.
In the past, Councilmembers have chosen to forgo raises. For example, in 2009, at the tail end of the Great Recession, three Councilmembers declined not to take a pay increase.
But such a large boost in pay has not been seen in recent years. Typically, the raises amount to a cost-of-living adjustment based on inflation.
Rochester City Councilmembers make significantly less than members of the Buffalo Common Council. That body approved a nearly 13% pay increase in 2023, boosting members pay to $84,473. Buffalo Councilmembers are full-time, while Rochester is part-time. Rochester Councilmembers also make more than their counterparts in Syracuse, who approved a pay increase to $38,000 last year from $35,020. Syracuse Councilmembers are also part-time.
Monroe County legislators also approved a pay increase in 2023 of 58%, raising their base pay to $28,500. It was the first time they'd received a raise since 1990 and it came after the Legislature convened a pay commission, which did substantial research before recommending the raise.
City Councilmember is classified as a part-time position, and the only type of part-time job in city government which is eligible for all city employee benefits.
Councilmember Stanley Martin said that while the job is, on paper, part-time, she and her colleagues are often working beyond the 30 hours per week it is meant to entail. She said the wage Councilmembers are paid is not a living wage.
“When I first started this job, it was my hope that I would be able to do this full-time, but I quickly realized I couldn’t afford to live on a $40,000 salary,” Martin said during the Council meeting Tuesday. “That is also what many of our community members live with, and they also struggle to make ends meet, just like I do on this amount.”
Reached by phone, Martin said the increase in pay helps enable working class people to vie for elected office by offering a sustainable wage.
“Like the People’s Slate (Martin’s progressive slate of candidates for city office), we’re working-class people working to elect people who are working class,” Martin said. “A big part of how you do that is by having a living wage.”
