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Padding pockets at City Hall? New report recommends raises for mayor, council

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — More of your tax dollars could be going to pad the pockets of elected officials in Buffalo.

A new report by a city-appointed commission calls for a more than 10 percent raise for several positions, including Mayor Byron Brown.

The Buffalo Citizen’s Salary Review Commission is appointed every two years, which is a requirement by the city’s charter. Mayor Brown spoke on this after his State of the City address and said he doesn’t want a raise.

“I’m concerned about raises. I haven’t requested a raise. This was something that was advanced by the city council and members of the city council. I think the timing is concerning,” Mayor Brown said.

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The last round of raises for elected officials was in 2019, but before that, elected officials didn’t receive a raise for decades. This report is calling for an almost 13 percent raise for the mayor, comptroller, common council members and school board members. The report says there will be a less than one percent impact on the city’s budget and the total amount in raises would be about $137,000.

“Every two years according to the charter, there’s supposed to be a salary review commission that is sat. They look at the trends. They look at the work. They look at a whole host of things, other municipalities and they make a recommendation, but it doesn’t mean the council has to go with the recommendation,” Council President Darius Pridgen explained.

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Pridgen says now that the Mayor has presented his budget, the council will review all of the proposed spending before making any decisions.

“Now that we have the budget in front of us, all of the numbers go into one pot and we work from there. Again, there was a speech, there was a suggestion all that came within the last week or so. Now it’s just time to do the work,” Pridgen added.

The Council has until June 15 to approve, modify or reject the salary report.

Tara Lynch is a Buffalo native who joined the News 4 team as a reporter in 2022. She previously worked at WETM in Elmira, N.Y., a sister station of News 4. You can follow Tara on Facebook and Twitter and find more of her work here.

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