The mayor and city commissioners will get a much smaller pay raise than the 21 percent originally planned -- the body approved a 6 percent raise Monday.

Last week commissioners proposed to give themselves the big raise, while most workers would get raises of two or three percent.

City leaders justified the big raise by comparing their salaries to other elected officials working in similar positions across Florida.

“The public is not going to be happy," said Doug Head, chairman of County Watch, a local bipartisan government watchdog group. "When elected officials are giving themselves greater pay raises than those which they offer to the employees of the city, and the employees of the city aren’t going to happy either.”

“I just told them, I thought that wasn’t fair for them to get a 21 percent increase and the workers settle for a 2 percent increase,” explained Joshua Willis, Service Employees International Union - Orlando chairman.

Meanwhile, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer proposed an amendment at the budget hearing Monday to reduce that to a 6 percent raise.

“The level that we’re at today is an appropriate level and perhaps even though justified, that high of percentage is just tough on public perception,” Mayor Dyer explained.

The city says the raise breaks down to a 4 percent raise, plus a 2 percent cost of living increase.

“But to bring it down, the concerned citizens and people were watching what was going on and putting our commissioners and our mayor on notice that they’re no longer going to have at it and do what they want with the city budgets," said activist Lawanna Gelzer. "People are very concerned with how their dollars are being spent.”

The 21 percent increase would have raised Mayor Dyer’s salary from $160,892 a year to $195,500. With the 6 percent increase, Dyer’s current salary of $160,892 a year, will go up about $10,000 to $170,545.

With the 21 percent increase, commissioners would have seen their current salaries of $49,383 a year go up to $60,000.

However, with the 6 percent increase, commissioners will see their pay go up about $3,000, from $49,383 to $52,346.