City Council members are saying “thanks, but no thanks” to a Salary Commission recommendation to raise their pay.

The commission recommended 4 percent raises for Council members, which would have amounted to a hike to $60,936 for the Council chairman and $54,552 for the remaining eight Council members.

Recommended raises for department heads, city attorneys and others not covered by union contracts, most of which are 4 percent, are not part of Resolution 13-88, which got preliminary approval from the Council Executive Matters and Legal Affairs Committee Tuesday.

In rejecting raises for themselves, Council members said they could not accept raises at a time when many Oahu families are suffering financial hardships, and pointed out that federal sequestration could further worsen the economic outlook.

The resolution will be up for a final vote of the Council on June 5.

Council members last year rejected 3 percent raises for themselves.