D.C. Council members get paid more than their counterparts in neighboring localities and most of the nation’s biggest cities like New York, according to an analysis of salary figures.
Despite a looming budget deficit, the District, with 572,000 residents, pays its 12 council members $92,520 each and its chairman $132,500 annually.
New York, the nation’s most populated city, with 8 million residents, pays its council members $90,000 a year.
D.C. Council members yesterday defended their high pay.
“This council operates as a city, county and state legislative body,” said council member Adrian Fenty, Ward 4 Democrat. “You take on everything from Medicaid to community policing and potholes. It’s a different job in the amount of work that needs to be done and also in the amount of time.”
The median household income in the District is $41,169.
D.C. Council members also get paid more than counterparts in Houston, which pays council members $44,217 a year, and in Philadelphia, which pays $80,000 a year. Houston has 2 million residents; Philadelphia has 1.5 million.
The D.C. Council’s salaries also surpass those of county and city legislative bodies in the Washington suburbs, the analysis by The Washington Times shows.
Montgomery County Council members earn $72,557 a year, while counterparts in Prince George’s County make $70,000. Montgomery has 891,347 residents; Prince George’s has 816,791.
Fairfax County supervisors, who represent 985,161 residents, earn $59,000. Arlington County Board members make $27,937, and Alexandria City Council members make $27,500. Arlington has 187,469 residents; Alexandria has 128,283.
Elected officials who lead the legislative bodies often are paid slightly higher salaries.
D.C. Council member Kevin P. Chavous, Ward 7 Democrat, said his job demands full-time, year-round attention. He said he works at least 50 hours a week.
Under a city statute, the council members’ positions are defined as part time and the council chairman’s position as full time.
“I can understand people’s concerns about salaries,” Mr. Chavous said. “But you have to go back to the start of home rule in the District. The federal government tied some salaries to positions in federal government. Sometimes they made sense. Sometimes they didn’t. We’re also in session more than other legislative bodies.”
A spokesman for council member Jack Evans, Ward 2 Democrat, said the number of elected officials in New York City is far more than in the District.
“It makes sense that significantly more responsibility comes with the job of council members in D.C.,” spokesman John Ralls said.
The General Accounting Office also noted in May that the costs of providing basic services in the District is higher than in other states. The cost in the District is more than one-third higher than in New York state.
The issue of high salaries in the District recently came under scrutiny after council members expressed concern over the proliferation of six-figure salaries in the city government.
Since April, The Times has reported a series of articles based on the fact that 575 D.C. government employees earn more than $100,000 a year. In comparison, 419 of Chicago’s 40,000 city workers and 33 of Baltimore’s 15,000 city workers earn six-figure salaries.
Chicago, with 2.9 million residents, pays its aldermen $88,500. Baltimore, with 638,614 residents, pays its council members $48,000 a year.
Los Angeles, the country’s second-most-populated locality, is the only city to pay council members more money than the District. The city, with 3.8 million residents, pays council members $139,784 a year. The District ranks 23rd among the country’s most-populated cities, according to the Census Bureau.
Telephone calls seeking comment for this report were placed to each of the D.C. Council members this week. Several could not be reached for comment because the council is in recess, staff members said.
Council member David A. Catania, at-large Republican, declined to comment.
The council last received raises in 1999. At the time, Council Chairman Linda W. Cropp, at-large Democrat, defended the move amid complaints by congressional leaders that council members made too much money. Mrs. Cropp said then that she and her colleagues worked long, hard hours.
Council members’ salaries were capped at $92,000 that year, council Secretary Phyllis Jones said. “The salary won’t change again unless the law changes, and Congress has to do that,” Miss Jones said.
So far, the council has not asked for a pay increase or discussed any cuts in salaries, members said.
Mr. Fenty said yesterday the salary issue should take a back seat to whether council members’ jobs are considered full-time positions.
“The bigger issue is whether the council is a part-time position or not,” he said. “If people were to say that $92,000 is too much to pay for a part-time job, well, then I’d have to say they’re probably right.”
Six of the 13 members work other jobs when they are not attending to council matters, according to financial disclosure documents for 2002 filed May 15.
Mr. Catania earned $82,500 as senior counsel to the District-based law firm Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld LLP.
The documents also show that Mr. Evans earned $120,000, and Harold Brazil, at-large Democrat, made $86,335 doing legal work.
Vincent B. Orange Sr., Ward 5 Democrat, earned $2,000 for legal work, an amount significantly lower from the previous year. Mr. Orange made $78,342 in 2001 while he worked for the National Children’s Center Inc., according to his disclosure form.
Mr. Chavous received the most outside income last year among the six council members. Documents show Mr. Chavous earned a total of $141,508 from two District-based law firms, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP and Arent Fox Kintner Plotkin & Kahn PLLC.
Mr. Chavous said he deferred $20,000 of his council salary in 2002 to the District’s general fund.
Phil Mendelson, at-large Democrat, earned $4,600 for rent management, documents show.
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