Quincy's newly seated City Council is wasting no time revisiting one of the city's touchiest topics: the sweeping pay hikes it approved last year that would propel the mayor into the ranks of the highest-paid municipal executives and boost councilors' salaries by roughly half. The move has reignited public frustration and forced councilors to confront whether to walk back ordinances they passed in 2024. Several new members say they want a reset with a more transparent process and a clear timeline for how elected-official pay is set.
Under the 2024 ordinance, Mayor Thomas Koch's salary would climb from about $159,000 to roughly $285,000, a 79% jump, while city councilors' pay would rise from about $29,129 to $44,500, a roughly 50% increase, as reported by Boston.com. Koch later signaled he would support a reduced figure of $225,000 when the increase takes effect in 2028, but the original ordinance is still on the books. The size of the raises, and how quickly they were approved, helped trigger large protests and a petition drive that ultimately fell short of making the ballot.
New councilors elected after last year's backlash have filed orders to send the raises back to committee and reopen the review, arguing that the city needs to "get it right" with residents at the table. Councilor Deborah Riley said she wants the body to "handle this correctly going forward," while City Solicitor James Timmins has defended the 2024 votes and said the city did check pay levels in neighboring communities before moving ahead. The council is aiming to settle on a path before its July recess so that a process to recalculate fair pay can begin in September, according to WHDH.
Legal limits and the ethics review
State and legal reviews have made any quick reversal tricky. NBC Boston reports that the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission reviewed the matter after the outcry. Solicitor Timmins warned councilors that simply repealing the 2024 measure could unintentionally "wipe out" not only the new ordinance but earlier salary provisions too, a technical outcome councilors say they are trying to avoid. The ethics panel declined to comment to NBC10 Boston, and council leaders have held off on final votes while they seek more legal clarity.
What the ordinance actually says
City records show the council passed an ordinance on June 17, 2024 that amended the official salary schedule and set city councilors' pay at $44,500 effective Jan. 1, 2025; the ordinance is posted in the city's code repository. ecode360.com confirms the effective date and the vote. Several newly elected councilors have said they will donate at least part of their own raise while the broader policy fight plays out, as reported by Boston.com.
What's next
Councilors now face three practical choices: repeal the ordinances outright, rewrite them with clearer guardrails, or leave them in place while adding new limits for future increases. Each option comes with its own procedural and legal trade-offs. Organizers who tried to force a citywide ballot vote with a 2025 petition drive fell short of the signatures needed to qualify the question, according to WBUR, which limits direct voter recourse for now. The council plans additional public sessions in June so residents can weigh in before a potential vote later this summer.
