It hardly seems a year has passed since the Honolulu City Council orchestrated an outrageous, 64% salary increase for itself, and the mayor’s 12%-plus raise leapfrogged that salary above the governor’s. The public anger generated still runs hot — and yet the Honolulu Salary Commission is at it again.

On Tuesday, the commission unanimously recommended another pay boost for all nine members of the City Council and other high-level city officials, including the mayor and managing director, this time for at least 3%.

This is a really bad idea, and must be rejected for reasons including the obvious: The city doesn’t have excess money to raise pay — again — for its elected officials, when funding for basic services and urgent initiatives is already stretched.

The public interest will be best served by tabling this ill-advised recommendation, and by examining just what has gone so wrong with the Salary Commission. That includes the control the City Council and mayor have over appointments to the commission — which has led to the commission’s sanctioning of unreasonably extravagant salary hikes, two years running.

In 2023, the commission endorsed an oversized, $46,332 pay jump for the Council chair, currently Tommy Waters — vaulting the annual pay by 60%, to $123,292 from $76,968. Note that $46,332 — and this is the chair’s raise, not the salary — is more than many a service worker in Waters’ Waikiki and East Honolulu district earns each year.

Other members of the Council got a windfall $44,400 pay bump last year, hiking their pay by 64%, to $113,304 from $68,904. Three Council members — Radiant Cordero, Augie Tulba and Andria Tupola — formally rejected these misguided raises, keeping their compensation static. The other five: Tyler Dos Santos-Tam and Matt Weyer, elected to a first term in 2022, along with Esther Kiaaina, Val Okimoto and Calvin Say, accepted the loot.

The City Council pay increases were especially galling because they were partially justified by characterizing Council positions as full-time work; however, no requirement that Council members hold no other jobs was included with the wage explosion.

The mayor’s annual salary was increased last year by more than $23,000 — to $209,856 from $186,432. In comparison, Hawaii’s governor earns about $165,000 yearly; that’s another reason to question the raise’s rationale.

Before the Salary Commission vote this week, Chair Malia Espinda said the goal was to bring City Council members’ pay closer to that of city executive managers. This rationale is off-base, because the elected positions are not professional executive positions, are not subject to the extensive background requirements of such positions, and are not even considered full-time, exclusive jobs. Nonetheless, the commission recommended the raises, against the best interests of the city and its taxpayers, many of whom struggle to make ends meet.

Mayor Rick Blangiardi erred last year in supporting drastic pay hikes for himself and the City Council. But this time, he’s right in informing the Salary Commission that another round of raises isn’t justified.

As the mayor noted, “fiscal challenges” face the city, with dwindling American Rescue Act money and “city operational commitments” that include rank-and-file pay and benefits, already approved salary increases, the looming cost of operating Skyline and mass transit, and city spending for homeless services, public health and safety.

In fact, in light of these daunting commitments, last year’s pay jumps should have been reined in. If the current scheme is allowed to go forward next month, the mayor would get a $6,000-plus raise, to $216,151; City Council members would add $3,408, to total $116,712 annually.

The City Council must now reject another pay raise. To do otherwise would be an insult to taxpayers — and clearly confirm the greed of elected officials who are woefully out of sync with the needs of their constituents.