The Hinesville City Council voted Thursday to reduce the 167 percent pay raises that were passed earlier this year.

The council first approved raising the mayor and council members’ salaries on Jan. 7, after reconvening from an executive session, and then re-took the vote in early April after residents objected to the first vote being taken out of the public eye.

The original raises increased the mayor’s salary from $15,000 to $40,000 and the council members’ salaries from $7,500 to $20,000. The council voted unanimously Thursday to reduce the mayor’s raise by $16,000 and the council’s raise by $8,000. The increases go into effect in 2012, putting the mayor’s annual salary at $24,000 and council members’ salaries at $12,000.

At a citywide planning workshop in July on St. Simons Island, the council decided to reconsider the raises after members Keith Jenkins (District 4) and Charles Frasier (District 1) said they reconsidered their votes and agreed the amount of the raises was too much.