While most city agencies have been asked to cut 8 percent from their budgets, City Council voted to raise its operating budget by 4.6 percent—a $2.3 million hike that brings the sum to $52.9 million. Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Chelsea) defended the budget increase, arguing it only went up because City Council employees have been given cost of living raises. "I would argue our budget is the same as it was last year," Quinn told the Observer. "We made a decision to treat City Council workers the same as other workers. Therefore, we gave everyone a cost of living increase." That said, the new budget breaks down to $1,036,920 for each of the 51 Council members, compared to $990,896 last year, the Daily News reports.