Craig Guy pay up 11.2% via 2 retroactive Hudson, N.J. raises

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Hudson County Executive Craig Guy’s salary has risen 11.2% in about two years, from $216,700 to $240,967, under two retroactive salary ordinances county commissioners adopted in 2025, according to records the county released to Hudson TV under the Open Public Records Act.

In the same response, the county said it has no written policy on paying out accrued sick and vacation leave to the County Executive or other elected county officials, even though Guy’s office told Hudson TV last week that such balances can be paid out.

Two ordinances, five months apart

On March 27, 2025, commissioners adopted Ordinance 178-3-2025. It raised the County Executive’s salary 3%, from $216,700 to $223,201, “effective July 1, 2024, and retroactive to that date,” nearly nine months earlier. It also scheduled raises for the next four years: 2.75% on July 1, 2025, 3% in 2026, 2.75% in 2027 and 3% in 2028.

On Aug. 14, 2025, less than five months later, the board adopted Ordinance 489-8-2025. It added a “Market Rate Adjustment” on top of each scheduled raise: 1% in 2025 and 2026, and 1.25% in 2027 and 2028. Guy’s salary went to $231,632, retroactive to July 1, 2025. Under the March schedule alone, it would have been $229,339.03, or $2,292.97 less, by Hudson TV’s math.

Guy’s office told Hudson TV on Oct. 22 that his salary is now $240,967. That is $4,747.80 more than the March 2025 schedule would have paid by July 2026, according to Hudson TV’s calculation.

The March ordinance also says the listed officials may receive, “subject to eligibility,” a $480-a-year cellphone stipend and a $7,200-a-year car allowance or a take-home vehicle.

A vote count that doesn’t match

The roll-call grid on the copy of Ordinance 178-3-2025 the county released shows eight commissioners voting yes and Commissioner Bill O’Dea voting no. The clerk’s certification on the same page says the ordinance passed with nine votes in favor and none against. At the board’s Oct. 20 caucus, O’Dea said of the multi-year raises, “the reason I didn’t vote for it was because it was multiple years,” Hudson County View reported.

The leave question

The county’s 2026 budget lists 92.5 days of accumulated absences, valued at $82,798.88, on its “County Executive” line. Hudson TV asked whether those balances “can be paid out to an elected official under county policy.” Mark Cygan, communications director for the County Executive’s office, answered on Oct. 22: “Office staff and yes.”

Hudson TV then asked, under OPRA, for “the County policy, ordinance or resolution that governs whether accrued sick and vacation leave may be paid out to the County Executive or to other elected County officials.” On Oct. 26, County Counsel Alberico De Pierro wrote back: “As to #4, no records exist.”

Hudson TV reported Oct. 21 that the salary budget for Guy’s office has grown 54.6% since 2023.

What’s next

The county has not yet released the County Executive’s office payroll register that Hudson TV also requested. Commissioners voted 8-1 on Oct. 22 to introduce an amendment to Ordinance 489-8-2025 raising the pay of the county fire marshal and the Board of Elections clerk; it still needs a public hearing and final vote. Hudson TV will report what the payroll records show.

Hudson TV asks: Should raises for top county officials be voted on once a year, after the budget, instead of years in advance?
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