Framingham Mayor Salary Cut Approved By City Council

FRAMINGHAM, MA — The Framingham mayor is one of the top paid mayors in Massachusetts, but probably not for much longer.

The Framingham City Council on Tuesday took an initial vote to cut the mayor's salary from $187,630 to $165,000. The vote came after a deep study into the city's mayoral compensation by the Strategic Initiatives and Financial Oversight Committee (SIFOC) and a City Council committee.

The mayor's salary was set before Framingham voters approved transitioning from a town to a city. At the time, a consultant from the Edward J. Collins Jr. Center for Public Management at UMass Boston recommended Framingham set the mayor's salary as the same as the then-town manager.

The Framingham mayor earns more than the mayors of bigger communities like Somerville ($180,000), Brockton ($153,037), Cambridge ($119,024), Newton ($155,000) and Quincy ($150,943).

SIFOC and City Council also looked at the annual stipends provided to Councilors and the School Committee. Framingham Councilors get a $5,000 yearly stipend (the Council Chair gets $7,500), which is low compared to other cities. Councilors in Marlborough, for example, get over $10,000 per year each. Newton Councilors get $44,014 each, plus benefits.

Council Chair George King Jr. and District 2 Councilor Cesar Stewart-Morales both said that boosting Council salaries could be good — attracting more talented and more diverse candidates. At-Large Council Janet Leombruno highlighted the amount of work Councilors put in, from phone calls to driving around to visit constituents.

"It's an equity issue," Stewart-Morales said, implying some candidates might not be able to afford to be a Councilor.

Ultimately, the Council decided to leave their pay as is due to difficult budget times.

The Council will have to take a second vote in the future to make the mayoral salary cut final. It would not take effect until the beginning of the next mayoral term. Framingham will elect a mayor in November.