COUNCIL MEMBERS WILL SKIP PAY RAISES

D.C. Council members will give up their automatic cost-of-living increases in fiscal 2010 in light of Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's proposed $5.4 billion budget that lays off hundreds of employees and freezes salaries.

Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) said he talked to all 12 of his colleagues and they agreed that the council needed to give up their raises.

Under legislation approved in 2006, the salaries of the 12 at-large and ward council members jumped from $92,530 to $115,000, plus annual cost-of-living adjustments. They now earn $125,583. The chairman and the mayor do not receive the yearly boosts, but their salaries rose significantly from $142,000 and $152,000 to $190,000 and $200,000, respectively.

Council budget director Eric Goulet said earlier this week that the council might have to pass another bill to decline the raises, which range between 3 and 5 percent each year.

Gray said he believes council members may be able to refuse the raises by letter.

At 5 percent, the council would be saving the city more than $75,000 in fiscal 2010. That could be a staffer or two, depending on the salary.

Under Fenty's proposal, as many as 776 workers would be laid off and salaries would be frozen for all agencies except schools. His plan also eliminates next month's Emancipation Day holiday for city workers.