Title
Annual Review of Compensation for Mayor, Councilmembers, and Public Members of City Boards and Commissions
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FileID
File ID: 2026-00729
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Location
Location: Citywide
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Recommendation
Recommendation: Adopt a Resolution establishing compensation and benefits of the Mayor and City Councilmembers and compensation for public members of City boards and commissions.
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Contact
Contact: Ebony Heaven, Human Resources Manager, (916) 808-7984, eheaven@cityofsacramento.org, Human Resources Department
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Presenter
Presenter: Ebony Heaven, Human Resources Manager, (916) 808-7984, eheaven@cityofsacramento.org, Human Resources Department
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Attachments
Attachments:
1-Description/Analysis
2-Salary Surveys for Mayor and Council with City/County of San Francisco
3-Salary Surveys for Mayor and Council without City/County of San Francisco
4-Annual Budget Comparison
5-Spreadsheet to Calculate Potential Salary Increases
6-Redline Resolution Covering Compensation for Mayor and City Councilmembers
7-Redline Compensation of Boards and Commissions Chart
8-Resolution
9-Exhibit A - Resolution Covering Compensation for Mayor and City Councilmembers
10-Exhibit B - Compensation of Boards and Commissions Chart
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Description/Analysis
IssueDetail
Issue Detail: Section 29 of the Sacramento City Charter requires the Compensation Commission (Commission) “to establish the compensation for the Mayor, members of the city council, and public members of city boards and commissions.” The Commission provided previous direction that future discussions should include a total compensation survey for the Mayor and Councilmembers. The total compensation survey includes salary, any additional payments or allowances, and health and welfare benefits. The survey agencies include:
1. City/County of San Francisco, CA
2. Denver, CO
3. Fresno, CA
4. Long Beach, CA
5. Oakland, CA
6. Portland, OR*
7. San Diego, CA*
8. San Jose, CA
9. Seattle, WA*
*These agencies differ from the comparator agencies used by the City for total compensation salary surveys for City employees, as the language in Section 29 of the Sacramento City Charter to survey agencies and set compensation for Mayor and Councilmembers differs from the language in the Employer-Employee Relations Policy and Section 503 and 603 of the Sacramento City Charter for City employees.
There are two versions of the surveys: one with the City/County of San Francisco as Attachment 2 and one without the City/County of San Francisco as Attachment 3.
For background purposes, when the Commission convened on May 12, 2025, as a result of the salary survey completed, the Mayor received a salary increase from $164,205 to $184,464 annually and Councilmembers received a salary increase from $102,793 to $111,324 annually.
For ease of discussion and calculation, if the Commission is recommending salary increases for the Mayor and/or Councilmembers, a spreadsheet (Attachment 5), has been provided to allow calculations of potential increases. There are six options the Commission can choose to calculate. Instructions are included in the spreadsheet. In addition, the Commission and/or HR staff can calculate recommendations during the meeting as discussions progress. Note that only one of the six options, for both Mayor and Councilmembers, needs to be filled in.
In anticipation of the Commission making salary changes, a redline version of the Resolution Covering Compensation for the Mayor and Councilmembers (Resolution) is shown in Attachment 6. In addition to the potential changes outlined in Article 2.1, other changes outlined are standard updates. A final version of the Resolution Covering Compensation for the Mayor and Councilmembers is attached to the Resolution as Exhibit A (Attachment 9), with the final amounts in Article 2.1 to be filled in after direction from the Commission.
A chart showing the compensation for public members of City boards and commissions is shown as attached to the Resolution as Exhibit B (Attachment 10).
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PolicyConsiderations
Policy Considerations: Compensation for the Mayor and City Council should be reasonable and consistent with other cities similar in size and structure.
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EconomicImpacts
Economic Impacts: Compensation figures established by the Compensation Commission will be incorporated into the City’s fiscal year 2026/27 budget.
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EnvironmentalConsiderations
Environmental Considerations: None.
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Sustainability
Sustainability: None.
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Commission/Committee Action
Commission/Committee Action: None.
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RationaleforRecommendation
Rationale for Recommendation: City Charter Section 29 provides for a Compensation Commission whose function shall be to meet at least annually, and establish the compensation for the Mayor, members of the City Council, and public members of City boards and commissions.
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FinancialConsiderations
Financial Considerations: None.
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LocalBusinessEnterprise
Local Business Enterprise (LBE): None.
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Background
Background: In June 2004, the Commission established a formal process to guide the compensation-setting process, noting:
• The Commission will conduct annual review of the Mayor and Councilmember pay for possible adjustment.
• Adjustments should be considered annually to avoid a large ‘catch-up’ adjustment every few years.
• Salary adjustments provided to city charter officers, exempt management, and represented employees shall be communicated to Commission members.
• Mayor and Councilmember benefits were to be aligned with city charter officers.
The Commission determined that the Human Resources Department would provide an annual salary survey and set a meeting for the Commission in March of each year. No salary increases have been implemented for fiscal year 2025/2026.
|
Employee Union |
Percent Increase for FY2025/26 |
Date of Increase for FY2025/26 |
Number of Budgeted Positions |
|
Building Trades Union |
N/A |
N/A |
77 |
|
Sacramento City Exempt Employees Association (SCXEA) |
N/A |
N/A |
859 |
|
Fire Association (Local 522) |
N/A |
N/A |
620 |
|
Local 39 A (Misc) |
N/A |
N/A |
1502 |
|
Local 39 B (Plant Ops) |
N/A |
N/A |
66 |
|
Local 39 C (Gen Sups) |
N/A |
N/A |
158 |
|
Machinists Union |
N/A |
N/A |
55 |
|
Painters Union (Local 1176) |
N/A |
N/A |
13 |
|
Plumbers Union (Local 447) |
N/A |
N/A |
175 |
|
Police Association (SPOA) |
N/A |
N/A |
772 |
|
Western Conference of Engineers |
N/A |
N/A |
52 |
|
Executive Management (Unrepresented) |
N/A |
N/A |
111 |
End