Sacramento County Board of Supervisors approved raising their annual salaries to $173,398 in a 4-1 vote during their regular meeting Tuesday.
The increased compensation is set to begin next month. Supervisors currently earn a base salary of $127,159. That amount is below the median for similar counties in the area, according to a county appointed consultant.
All members of the board, with the exception of Sue Frost approved the base pay increases as well as increase their car allowances.
In addition to opposing the raise Tuesday, Frost also opposed the idea during its first reading back on April 18.
“There’s a part of me that wants to support this item, but I’m just not going to be able to because I think given the fact that many of my constituents are suffering from increased inflation and increased prices,” Frost said. “It’s difficult to give myself a raise at the same time others are suffering.”
County Executive Ann Edwards said that it was county staff, not the board members, that brought forward the need for a pay raise after the county compared employee salaries to other agencies in order to determine competitive rates.
Edwards said staff decided to include supervisor pay. Before the March report by consultant Ralph Andersen & Associates, Sacramento had not compared supervisor pay since 1991.
“That salary survey indicated you all were far below the median, which is what we use when we’re looking at all county employees,” said Edwards. “We want county employees to be at or a little bit above the median. You were well below and this gets you a little bit above.”
The consultant collected pay data from comparable government agencies, including those from Alameda, Contra Costa, Fresno, Placer, San Joaquin and Santa Clara counties. Of the group, Alameda has the most similar population size compared to Sacramento County according to the report.
Alameda County’s supervisors received salaries of $190,225 and then $181,246 in 2021 and 2020. Sacramento supervisors each got $128,943 and $114,088 in the same years.
The three counties that reported paying supervisors the highest salaries in 2021 were Los Angeles, San Diego and San Bernardino counties.
The board also approved increasing car allowances Tuesday from $500 to $550 per month for members representing Districts 1 through 4 to adjust for higher driving and maintenance costs. District 5 supervisor Pat Hume, will see an increase from $575 to $625 because the largest area covers 650 square miles.