Lansing city council is getting a 20% pay raise, despite protests from some council members.
Five of the eight council members voted to reject the pay raise. But they fell short of the super-majority needed to block the raise.
"When you look at per-capita what the average income is in the city of Lansing, a perception of taking a 20% was something that is just unacceptable," council member Carol Wood said.
The pay hike is intended to make up for the fact that salaries haven't gone up in more than a dozen years, but Wood doesn't believe that is a good enough justification.
"That doesn't happen out there in the private sector, why should it happen in the public sector?" Cook asked. "Why should that be a criteria that you look at because you didn't take a raise, now you're going to get a 20% raise."
The raises will take effect July 1.
--Paige Pfleger, Michigan Radio Newsroom
