Panel OKs city leader pay raises up to 4.6%
Combined salaries of 49 officials would cost an extra $181,826
The mayor's salary would jump to $122,000, while city councilmembers and other top officials would get raises ranging from 3.7 percent to 4.4 percent, under a new pay schedule unanimously approved yesterday by the city Salary Commission.
The increases will take effect after 60 days unless seven of the city's nine councilmembers vote to reject the proposal, expected to cost the city an extra $181,826 annually and bring the combined salaries of 49 top city officials to $4.7 million.
Salaries for the group remained mostly stagnant from 2002 to 2004 but increased last year by about 4 percent.
Opponents of the increases say city officials should not be taking pay raises in the midst of rising property taxes, failing city services and increased costs for fuel, water and electricity.
"It just seems a little unseemly for them to be considering pay raises," said Bob Kessler, co-chairman of Let Honolulu Vote, which has opposed recent tax increases. "That's an arrogant situation to be in."
City spokesman Bill Brennan said yesterday that the raises are "not a high priority for the administration right now." He would not say if Mayor Mufi Hannemann is against the pay increases.
Members of the Salary Commission say they agreed on the increases after weighing a decade of cost-of-living increases, which climbed in Honolulu by about 3.5 percent in 2005.
Commission Chairman Guy Tajiri said members also wanted to make sure that there was a consistent "differential" between what city department heads and deputy directors earn.
Under the proposal, the city's 15 department heads will get a pay raise of more than $4,000 to make $107,850 a year. Deputy directors will get $102,350, up from $98,340 this fiscal year and $94,554 in 2004.
After yesterday's vote, Tajiri added that commission members are not charged under the City Charter with correlating salary increases with job performance or the city's overall budget.
"It's just bad timing, with the sewage spill and the rising costs of fuel," he said. "In the long run, if we don't provide increases, they're going to fall behind and make the situation even worse."
It is unclear what the City Council will do with the salary proposal, which includes a 4 percent increase for councilmembers.
Council Chairman Donovan Dela Cruz could not be reached for comment. His salary at the Council, which is considered a part-time position, would increase to $52,400 under the plan. Councilmembers would get $46,900.
Councilman Charles Djou, a staunch opponent of the raises, said the increases could be better spent elsewhere. "One hundred thousand dollars is $100,000," he said. "When taxpayers are shelling out so much more money, I think the $100,000 can be directed to a higher priority."
But City Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi said top city officials went years without a pay increase, which pushed some to seek higher wages in the private sector. "It's never easy to do pay raises for yourself," she said, "but it's a package. We can't take ourselves out."
Also at the commission's meeting yesterday, pay raises of 3 percent to 5 percent were approved for deputy prosecuting attorneys.
Their salary range was also amended. The most a prosecutor can get under the proposal is $109,430.
The schedule allows prosecutors to start at $39,417, but city Prosecutor Peter Carlisle told the commission yesterday that he usually starts attorneys at $47,000.
PLANNED RAISES
A look at the salary increases for city officials:
Current |
/ |
New |
/ |
% change |
MAYOR |
$116,688 |
/ |
$122,000 |
/ |
4.6% |
CITY COUNCIL CHAIRMAN |
$50,388 |
/ |
$52,400 |
/ |
4% |
CITY COUNCILMEMBERS |
$45,084 |
/ |
$46,900 |
/ |
4% |
MANAGING DIRECTOR |
$111,384 |
/ |
$115,500 |
/ |
4.4% |
DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR |
$106,080 |
/ |
$109,470 |
/ |
3.7% |
|
DEPARTMENT HEADS |
$103,800 |
/ |
$107,850 |
/ |
3.9% |
|
DEPUTY DEPARTMENT HEADS |
$98,340 |
/ |
$102,350 |
/ |
4.1% |
POLICE AND FIRE CHIEFS |
$114,624 |
/ |
$119,000 |
/ |
3.8% |
POLICE / FIRE DEPUTY CHIEFS |
$108,768 |
/ |
$113,500 |
/ |
4.4% |
Source: City Salary Commission