Salzburg plans to freeze city politicians’ pay in 2027

Salzburg’s city government plans to freeze politicians’ pay in 2027, Mayor Bernhard Auinger said, according to ORF. The city’s politicians also had no pay rise in 2026.

Auinger said he had written to Governor Karoline Edtstadler in early November. The state must decide on the pay freeze, and he is responsible for implementing that decision, he said. He expects Edtstadler to support the proposal.

Edtstadler earns just over 19,900 euros gross a month, while Auinger earns about 18,800 euros. The state government has set a pay freeze for the next two years.

NEOS city councillor Lukas Rupsch said the freeze did not go far enough. His party had proposed halving funding for political parties and council groups in Salzburg, but the proposal was rejected. Rupsch cited a NEOS survey that found party funding in Austria was five times the European Union average.

Auinger said federal, state and city governments had handled pay freezes differently in recent years. He called for a new federal pay regulation to bring the arrangements into line.