The City Council in Springfield, Massachusetts closed out the 2022 legislative year by voting unanimously for a raise in pay.
Councilors voted 13-0 Monday night to approve an order raising the mayor’s salary by $40,000 to $175,000, as well as hiking the pay for the 13 Councilors and six School Committee members by 44 percent starting in January 2024.
It was the final item on the agenda for the Council’s last meeting of the year and it passed on a rollcall vote after Ward Six City Councilor Victor Davila successfully motioned to proceed to a vote without debate.
Councilors deserve a raise, said Davila.
“We work hard,” he said. “The City Council works hard, particularly this City Council. We work hard.”
The annual pay for City Councilors will increase by $8,500 to $28,000 and the compensation for the School Committee members will rise by $5,500 to $18,000. The increases will take effect after the November 2023 election.
A three-member Compensation Advisory Board that was created in 2018 recommended the raises. After comparing what elected officials in other Massachusetts cities are paid, the board concluded that salaries in Springfield were “woefully out of line.”
Elected officials in Springfield have not received a pay raise in a decade, said City Council President Jesse Lederman.
“It is not something we consider on a regular basis,” Lederman said. “(We) are certainly cognizant of the fact that we have to be responsible to our constituents, responsible to the city budget, and follow the recommendations of the Compensation Advisory (Board).”
A spokesman for Mayor Domenic Sarno told WAMC Sarno will sign the pay raise legislation.
After the formal session, Councilors held a caucus where they voted unanimously for Lederman to serve a full one-year term as president in 2023. He took over as president last June following the abrupt resignation of Marcus Williams.
“Suffice it for this evening to simply say thank you,” Lederman told his colleagues immediately after he was chosen to continue as president. “Every member of this body was integral in making sure we had a smooth transition earlier this year and I appreciated all of your support at that time for what was a bit of a surprise, I think, for all of us.”
Councilors chose Ward 3 City Councilor Melvin Edwards to continue as vice president.
The swearing in of Lederman and Edwards will take place during the Council’s annual organizational meeting that is scheduled to be held on January 2, 2023.
