Whangārei's councillors have resoundingly rejected the mayor's idea to ask the Prime Minister to freeze pay rises - and in doing so accepted their pay increases.
A report detailing the councillors' pay rises for the 2018/19 financial year, externally set by the Remuneration Authority, was tabled at last week's council meeting.
The mayor made a recommendation the elected council write to the Prime Minister asking that local authority pay rates are treated the same as central government in regards to a pay freeze.
That recommendation was lost, with her voice the solitary one in favour.
Under the latest determination, Mai will get a 3.3 per cent pay rise, taking her salary from $139,881 to $144,526 for the 2018/19 year.