QUINCY, Mass. — Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch said Wednesday he is dialing back his own future pay raise.
Koch says, if he is still in office in 2028, he will be paid an annual salary of $225,000, $60,000 less than the previously approved $285,000.
Koch, whose term is up in two years, says he has not decided if he will run again and his current annual salary is $159,141.
The decision to lower the previously approved salary increase comes after Mayor Koch received feedback from both residents and city councilors expressing concerns about the size of the raise.
“I’ve been listening and speaking to Councilors and our residents, and I felt it was appropriate to revisit the issue. I appreciate the open, honest, and productive conversations we’ve had, and this proposal is a direct result of those conversations,” Mayor Koch said. “There are far too many important issues in our community – and far too many ways we’re moving forward -- to be collectively consumed by this one, even though the adjustment was already deferred to 2028."
Many expressed concern about the mayor’s 79% salary increase amid the city’s financial challenges at a city council meeting last week.
“I would argue that mayors are underpaid across the commonwealth. I say that with all sincerity, I know what they do, it’s a 24/7 job,” Mayor Koch said at the time. “At the end of this term, I’ll have twenty years as mayor and would have had one increase in 20 years.”
At that meeting, Koch also said the city’s debt is for quality investments.
“We’re doing roads, we’re doing schools, we’re doing fire houses, police station all within our excess levy, we’re in a good place, we’re in a great place,” said Mayor Koch.
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