BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — A salary review commission is recommending raises for the mayor, council members, and other elected officials. The Citizens Salary Review Commission is proposing a 12.63 percent increase in pay. This would be the first raise for these positions since 2019. If approved Mayor Byron Brown would make roughly $178,000 while Buffalo's Common Council Members would make roughly $84,000.
Talks of a pay raise have created some outrage in the City of Buffalo.
"A 12.6 raise? That is not even normal — that is not even the norm for regular residents, so people are again struggling and this is not a part of the struggle they want to be in," Leighton Jones, communications coordinator for Our City Action Buffalo, said.
The community-based political group shared an Instagram post on Tuesday saying the priority of elected officials should not be on raises right now. A handful of Instagram users also commented in agreement.
"Obviously the timing is wrong. You know that the timing is wrong," Jones said.
Chairperson of the salary review commission, David Franczyk, said the recommended pay hike would also bump up pay for the comptroller and school board members.
"We thought that would've been an equitable and fair raise," Franczyk said.
He said this commission meets every two years to provide salary recommendations and that they came to an agreement on a 12.63 percent raise after looking at the rate of inflation and union raises for Buffalo City Hall workers.
"If we do give a pay raise it should not be too little or too much it should be fair it should be rational," he added.
The raises together would add about $137,000 a year to a proposed $582 million dollar city budget, but following the State of the City address on Monday, Mayor Brown said the timing of this proposal is worrisome.
"I'm concerned about raises. I haven't requested a raise," Mayor Brown said, "I had absolutely no involvement in that whatsoever."
Council president Darius Pridgen said it's too soon to say his opinion on the salary bump.
"So we hear people say, 'Oh the council's voting themselves raises.' The truth of the matter is that there was a commission set by the charter and none of the council members here wrote the charter, so it's just following the charter," Pridgen said, "Will we agree on any salary hike? Will we agree on most of the budget? We don't know until we all get in a room and start to work."
The pay raise hike is ultimately up to the council members and will be discussed at the next finance committee meeting on Tuesday.
