SLO County Supervisors Get a 26% Pay Raise
The base salary for an elected member of the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors will soon be going up.
At the Board’s May 16, 2023, meeting, the Board of Supervisors 3 to 2 in favor of raising their pay.
County Supervisors Bruce Gibson, Dawn Ortiz-Legg, and Jimmy Paulding voted for the pay raise. Supervisors John Peschong and Debbi Arnold voted against it.
An elected San Luis Obispo County Supervisor’s base salary will increase 26% in July from $90,417.60 and then climb to $114,067.20 by June 2025.
The raise proposal was brought to the Board by County Human Resources Director Tami Douglas-Schatz. She highlighted concerns with salary compaction between the County Supervisors and their staff members.
Douglas-Schatz wrote that since “no additional increases have been applied to the Board of Supervisors’ compensation since 2021, the annual salary of the Board of Supervisors is now only 5.4% above the annual salary of the Legislative Assistant classification.”
Furthermore, Douglas-Schatz stated, “Absent future increases to the Board of Supervisors’ compensation, the annual salary of the Board of Supervisors will be only 2.8% above the annual salary of the Legislative Assistant classification in July 2023, and will only be 0.3% above in July 2024.”
Douglas-Schatz told the Board of Supervisors that her “department conducted a compensation study for the Board of Supervisors, comparing their salaries to those of other Board members in similar California agencies. The survey results indicate that Board members are paid about 22% below the market median.”
The proposal adopted by the Board of Supervisors will phase in the pay raises over the next three years. After that, County Supervisors pay will be tied to the compensation of Superior Court Judges.
The 26% pay raise for County Supervisors will be phased in as follows:
In July 2023, the annual salary will increase from $90,417.60 to $97,697.60.
In June 2024, the annual salary will increase from $97,697.60 to $105,560.00.
In June 2025, the annual salary will increase $105,560.00 to $114,067.20.
Following the third bump in pay, “members of the Board of Supervisors shall receive annual increases as necessary to remain at fifty percent of the bottom of the salary range of the California Superior Court Judges.”
County Supervisors may forgo these raise and accept a lower base salary by informing Human Resources in writing prior to the start of the County’s Fiscal Year.
Supervisors Jimmy Paulding and John Peschong stated publicly they will not accept the upcoming pay raise.
Brian Floyd is an author, historian, and political strategist who frequently contributes commentary to the Blade.