By Gabriel Rom
The objections of three Queens lawmakers notwithstanding, the City Council overwhelmingly voted Friday to raise the roof on their base salary, increasing their yearly income by nearly a third. It’s the first pay increase for elected officials in New York since 2006.
The vote count was 40-7, with Queens council members Elizabeth Crowley (D-Glendale), Paul Vallone (D-Bayside) and Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park) among those opposing the measure.
The raise increases the council’s base salary from $112,500 to $148,500, a 32 percent hike. The boost is also nearly $10,000 more than the figure recommended by the New York City Quadrennial Commission late last year, which called for increasing the salary for council members to a comparatively modest $138,315.
The legislation will also eliminate the bonuses called “lulus” which are given to committee leaders and impose limits on outside income.
Vallone, a lawyer, is one of four council members who earn a significant amount of money from the kind of outside income that will be banned by the bill. He works for his family’s law firm, Vallone & Vallone LLP.
In 2014, Vallone made at least $5,000 and up to $47,999, from his law practice, according to financial disclosure forms filed with the Conflicts of Interest Board.
“I’m happy that council member Paul Vallone was one of the seven dissenters,” said Queens political observer Dennis Saffran. “But his opposition came with a Barry Bonds-size asterisk. He voted ‘No’ only after the Council rejected his amendment to gut the related ban on outside income, which he is one of only four members affected by.”
A number of additional elected officials, including Mayor de Blasio and each borough’s district attorney, also saw their base salary increased. The mayor, however, announced that he would not accept the raise unless re-elected to a second term in 2017.
“These unprecedented reforms will strengthen the council as a legislative body and help council members better serve their constituents,” Mark-Viverito said. “By restricting outside income, designating council members’ positions as full-time jobs and eliminating stipends for members, we’ll fulfill many recommendations of good government groups and set a new standard for elected officials in our city.”
Mark-Viverito touted the reforms as a message to Albany.
“I think some of us that have expressed the need for reform at the state level,” she said. “There are things that we have implemented that we have yet to see implemented in Albany, so we definitely would like to serve as a model.”
The hike is retroactive to Jan. 1.
Reach reporter Gabriel Rom by e-mail at grom@
