Schenectady council mulls 16% pay raise
SCHENECTADY — City Council members could see their annual pay increase by $2,256 under a proposal from council President Marion Porterfield.
The council was expected to discuss the proposal Wednesday night calling for raising lawmakers’ yearly pay from $14,100 to $16,356. Elected officials on the seven-member panel also enjoy health insurance coverage.
Sixteen percent is the same increase Mayor Gary Mccarthy asked for in his preliminary 2020 budget that the council later whittled down to 4 percent with the stipulation the mayor wouldn’t get a raise in what was then the remaining three years of his third, four-year term. Mccarthy is running for a fourth term. The mayor’s salary is $100,680.
On Tuesday, Councilman John Mootooveren defended Porterfield’s proposal, arguing that the council hasn’t had a raise in years and missed out on the chance to get one when the mayor got his. And it’s not bad considering the workload, he said.
“It’s a stipend, it’s a proposal, it’s not (a) big fat salary, compared to that amount that we’re receiving right now… it’s long overdue for a discussion and to see where members stand,” he said.
He noted how the size of the budget was around $60 million when he was first elected — now it’s $111 million. Council members interact much more with city residents, he added.
On Tuesday, Porterfield declined to discuss the proposal except to say the council will discuss “all the issues around the budget and we’ll see where that lies.”
“I’m not going to be specific because you’re only talking to one council member, so I’m just going to say that every recommendation that’s being brought forward will be (Wednesday).”
She, however, did mention the pay
raise during an Oct. 6 budget hearing.
“I thought that we had put in for a request for an increase for the City Council, and I don’t see it reflected here,” Porterfield inquired.
Mccarthy explained that “It’s my budget that I submitted to you…” The mayor said he asked council members “if they wanted anything included” and only received a response from Councilwoman Carmel Patrick. Patrick does not support the proposed pay raise.
Porterfield said the request for the pay increase was made through the city clerk’s office. She ended the exchange by asking Mccarthy if he had removed the request from his spending plan, to which he responded “Correct.” Porterfield ran against Mccarthy in June’s Democratic Party primary for mayor, a race Mccarthy won.
Outgoing Councilman John Polimeni said the council doesn’t deserve a pay raise.
“In the private sector, where I work, your salary is based on your productivity, and what productivity has this council had in the last three years?” he asked. “There’s been none.”
With a looming $7.4 million budget gap projected when federal coronavirus bailout funds end in 2025, he said the city needs to do some belt-tightening.
Schenectady Republicans, including council candidate Stephanie Hughes, in a recent statement said, “It is unconscionable to ask the city taxpayers to shoulder an increase in pay for City Council members at this time.”
Mootooveren also lamented the “massive” increase in Mccarthy’s tentative budget for water and sewer fees and which he said has spawned calls from concerned homeowners.
“We’re talking about a massive tax increase disguised as water and sewer fees,” Mootooveren said. “We’re going to be looking at it Wednesday across the board and if there’s a majority that’s against it then we’ll have to do something about it.”
Asked about the appearance of a request for a pay raise amid concerns about those fees, Mootooveren noted several employees, including one in the mayor’s office, are slated to get hefty pay raises.
If approved, only incumbent council members seeking reelection would receive the increase in 2024, said Mccarthy. Mootooveren and Porterfield would see the pay hikes if they decided to run again and won another term, he said.
Council members will meet at 5 p.m. Friday for a budget adoption vote. The deadline to pass the spending plan is Nov. 1.