Some of Honolulu's top government roles are on track to get a 4.7% raise for the upcoming year.
The Honolulu Salary Commission this week voted to approve the raises, which would apply to the mayor and the city’s department heads, as well as members of the Honolulu City Council.
The commission said the increase was based on the 2.6% consumer price index for Honolulu in 2026 — a measure of inflation — its goal to maintain pay differences between leadership roles and increases for other city employees, and the challenges of leadership positions.
“We do not set these in a vacuum, however. We're charged with those two important things, adequate (compensation) and structure,” said Sarah Guay, the chair of the commission. “There's a lot of additional factors that have to be considered, including things like inflation, including things like a very competitive workforce, things like exceedingly challenging roles right now for our leadership.”
The mayor’s salary if the proposed raise is approved would be $236,700 for 2026, while the heads of most city departments would have a salary of $211,500.
Annual pay would grow to $435,600 for the top medical examiner; $261,300 for the chief of police; and $253,000 for the fire chief.
City councilmembers would see their salaries bump up to $127,800, while the chair’s would increase to $138,200.
In 2023 the commission gave a controversial 64% raise to councilmembers, and a 12.6% raise to the mayor and other city leadership.
The commission said those raises compensated for years of small or no bumps in pay, and has since moved to smaller, more frequent raises.
The commission has been challenged to be more transparent about its proposed raise.
Natalie Iwasa said in written testimony, “Taxpayer money is used to pay these salaries. The 4.7% is too high, but if you decide to approve it, you owe it to the public to do a better job of explaining why you’re recommending 4.7%.”
She noted that the raise is higher than inflation and more than the 2.95% raise that the city’s Bargaining Unit 13 is getting.
The commission factors in raises given to the unit, made up of professional and scientific employees, when deciding on raises for leadership roles, and has aimed to keep the pay difference between the two similar.
The commission said it focused on specific raises for the unit, and that they also include additional pay bumps on top of the 2.95% raise.
The salary recommendations will go into effect barring a rejection from the council.
