The New York City Council accidentally paid former staffers. Now the council is demanding repayment.

The New York City Council is delivering a not-so-happy holiday message to many of its former staffers. The council’s Personnel Services division sent letters to dozens of former employees of the legislative body over the past month notifying them that they were sent an erroneous payment more than a year ago, and demanding that they repay the money in a lump sum by Dec. 18 or send a request by that date to repay in installments.

Some former employees have been told that they will have to repay hundreds of dollars, or, in some reported cases, more. The Association of Legislative Employees, the union representing council staffers, said they have been informed by dozens of former staffers that they have received repayment demands ranging from $50 to $7,000. An ALE spokesperson said that the council reported to the union that an estimated 250 staffers total were affected by the overpayment error. A City Council spokesperson was not able to immediately confirm either of these figures and has not yet provided a comment on the incident.

The issue, as described in a letter sent to one of the former staffers and obtained by City & State, dates back to the summer of 2024, following the ratification of the first contract for members of the Association of Legislative Employees earlier that spring. The contract, which covers 2021 through 2027, included raises and bonuses for union members, but only people who were employed on the date of ratification – April 13, 2024 – were eligible for backpay related to the contract, according to the letter. At least one former staffer affected was last employed by the council in 2021.

The mistake has left some affected former staffers apoplectic, and now concerned about how they will pay the money back. M. Ndigo Washington, a former staffer for former Council Member Inez Barron, called the news “shocking” and “disappointing” after being informed in a letter a few weeks ago that she must repay roughly $634.

The tenor of the letter – which doesn’t offer an apology or regrets for the mistake, but threatens referring the issue to the New York City Law Department for unspecified “appropriate action” if recipients don’t reply – has also disturbed some of the former staffers. So has the notification and deadline period occurring in the middle of the holiday season, when many are already under financial pressure.

“It’s just like any other debt collector, quite honestly, who seems like they’re coming after you for a debt,” Washington said. “But when you’re given money that you received because of payment connected to a former job … you’re not expecting to have to now come out of your pocket over a year later.”

According to ALE President Matt Malloy, some former staffers affected told the union that they reached out to the council after receiving the payment in 2024 to confirm that they were eligible for the payments and they were assured that they were. Washington recalled that she actually got proactive confirmation, receiving a phone call from someone in the council in 2024 to say that she should expect a paycheck despite having left the council several years earlier.  (A council spokesperson did not confirm that some former staffers were initially assured they were meant to receive the payments, or any other details about the incident.)

One former staffer who was affected said they were “shocked and horrified” after receiving the letter. The former staffer said they have to move soon and the sudden demand for more than $800 would drain their budget. “If I have a payment plan, it’s going to have to be, like, $1 a day or something,” the former staffer said. “So I’m kind of desperate.”

The former staffer said they would like to see the council freeze its demand for repayment until an oversight hearing is held and the council provides answers for how this occurred, as well as a lenient financial relief option.

In a statement from the union, Malloy called for extending the deadline for repayment to at least the end of June. “The situation unfolding around retroactive payment clawbacks is the direct result of the council’s own admitted mistake,” Malloy said. “Many of those affected have already relied on these payments for essential expenses, and the demand for rapid repayment places an undue burden on individuals who acted in good faith. We urge the council to take responsibility for the situation it created, extend the repayment timeline, and work collaboratively toward a solution that protects workers rather than penalizing them.”