After months of public outcry, Quincy leaders announced they would delay wage increases until the start of the next two respective election cycles.

Salary increases for Mayor Thomas Koch and the City Council “will be deferred until the start of the next elected terms – 2026 for the council and 2028 for the mayor,” officials said in an Oct. 11 statement.

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Koch and City Council President Ian Cain “expressed their commitment to maintaining transparency and ensuring that any future salary adjustments are fair and thoughtful,” the statement said.

“There is a lot of important work to be done and we don’t need distractions,” Koch said in the release. “I love this job, I love Quincy and I am committed to ensuring we stay on track for progress.”

The council in June approved a salary increase from $159,000 to $285,000 for Koch and from $30,000 to $45,000 for city councilors.

That would have meant Koch’s salary would have been higher than that of Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, at $207,000; New York City Mayor Eric Adams at $258,000; and that of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson at $221,000.

Koch’s chief of staff, Christopher Walker, previously told a meeting of the City Council’s finance committee that Koch’s pay increase was “fair, reasonable and consistent with a number of other communities, if not today, then at least within a year or two.”

“It’s a 24/7 job,” Walker said. “There are no holidays. There is no sick leave. The mayor is the mayor.

Quincy residents protested before and after the approval. In a city of about 101,000, the median household income is $90,205, according to census data.

A Just Quincy, a group formed against the wage increase, told the Boston Globe that the delay was a step in the right direction.

“We have much work to do to elect a new slate of leaders who want to restore trust and transparency in our city government; who care about hearing from residents and do not view public opinion as an obstacle to be avoided,” the group told the Globe.

Kathy Thrun, a retired environmental consultant who protested the pay increase over the summer, echoed A Just Quincy’s statement: “But I’m not ready to do a big dance of victory,” she told the Globe.

“We have listened to community feedback and, after careful consideration, we are making the prudent decision to postpone these increases,” Cain said in the release.

“This structured approach will allow for greater clarity going forward, providing a clear framework on how and when increases will be addressed in the future,” Cain said.

Koch, serving his seventh term, is the longest-serving mayor in Quincy history.

Before his raise, Koch was the 204th highest-paid Quincy employee. Now-retired Police Chief Paul Keenan tops the list with $386,796, but that includes compensation for unused sick days and vacation time, Quincy’s Patriot Ledger reported.