City Council in Chicago Will Have to Decide to Accept a 9.62% Pay Raise

City Council
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City Council
Courtesy by Daniel X. O’Neil (Flickr CC0)

With the aldermen election happening in the upcoming year, the City Council will have to make a very tough decision in just a little more than a week. On September 2, the City Council will have to decide whether or not to take a 9.62% pay raise. If the aldermen accepted each salary raise their current yearly salary should be $130,238. If they accept this 9.62% raise their yearly salary would jump to $142,772 on January 1st, 2023.

City Council
Courtesy by Daniel X. O’Neil (Flickr CC0)

In 2006, the City Council approved a pay raise that was connected to the inflation rate. So, if the inflation rate is 5% the City Council members will receive a 5% pay increase. They were able to get away with this by also approving the big-box minimum wage ordinance the same exact day. The big-box minimum wage ordinance forced “big box” stores like Walmart and Home Depot to pay their employees a minimum of $10 an hour, with an additional $3 an hour worth of benefits. But when Mayor Richard M. Daley took office he used his first and only veto to get rid of the big-box minimum wage ordinance.

Since 2006 the City Council members have had to make the annual decision of whether or not they will accept a salary pay raise. But in 2022 many Chicagoans faced economic struggles at the gas pump and grocery stores. The inflation rate in Chicago this year has been the highest it has been since 1981. The inflation rate is 9.62%. So, why award the aldermen of Chicago with a 9.62% pay raise while the rest of Chicago is facing extreme prices for simple necessities like groceries?

With elections just around the corner, many aldermen are contemplating accepting the pay raise because they don’t want to lose voters. Mayoral challenger Ray Lopez plans to introduce a new plan in this September City Council meeting. Ray Lopez wants to introduce a new ordinance that will reduce newly elected aldermen and veteran aldermen who have accepted all pay raises down to $120,000. Future annual pay raises that connect to inflation rates will be capped at 3%.

They will also be required to serve their position full-time. This would prevent aldermen from having outside jobs. Ray Lopez has rejected the last two pay raises which he believes will give him credibility to make the popular, prelection argument.  Lopez said on Wednesday that a 10% pay raise is crazy. He said that nobody is receiving a 10% pay raise. The only thing getting a 10% increase in the cost of everything because of inflation.  He calls it a slap in the face to all Chicagoans.

Prohibiting aldermen from being able to have outside jobs as attorneys, real estate agents, professors or consultants has been an issue that many people have tried to put an end to. Lopez said being full-time would reduce the appearance of impropriety that has plagued the institution.

The decision deadline is coming very soon. A spokesperson for the city’s Office of Budget and Management, Rose Tibayan, made no comment when asked to identify aldermen that have already made their decisions in the year pay raise. These decisions hold a lot of power because they can sway voters and affect all of the aldermen’s possible reelection in this upcoming year.

Written by Gabriel Salgado
Edited by Sheena Robertson

Sources

Chicago Sun Times: Chicago alderpersons face preelection dilemma: Whether to accept a 9.62% pay raise

The New York Times: Chicago Orders ‘Big Box’ Stores to Raise Wage

CBS: Inflation is at 40-year high, and one expert says cost of living is even worse than numbers say

Top and Featured Image Courtesy of Daniel X. O’Neil (Flickr CC0)

Inset Image Courtesy of Daniel X. O’Neil (Flickr CC0)

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