SLO County supervisors get 26% salary bump. How will future board raises be determined?

The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to give themselves a 26% salary increase — and change how future supervisors will receive raises.

After June 2025, supervisors will no longer vote on their own salaries.

Instead, supervisors’ salaries will be set at 50% of the “bottom salary range of California Superior Court judges,” a SLO County staff report said.

When the judges receive a raise, the supervisors will get a salary bump, too.

“By tying this to the judges, we’re really taking it out of the political theater,” Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg said at Tuesday’s board meeting

State judges are paid a minimum annual salary of $219,000, a wage that’s set by the state, according to San Luis Obispo County Human Resources Department Director Tami Douglas-Schatz.

Six counties about the same size as SLO County already tie their supervisor salaries to the pay rate for Superior Court judges, Douglas-Schatz said.

“It just gives you a little bit of a step back,” Douglas-Schatz told the board Tuesday.

The 26% raise will bump the supervisors’ annual salaries from $90,417 to $114,067 in three installments over a two-year period, according to a staff report.

Supervisor Jimmy Paulding voted against raises for the board in February. He said that District 4 voters didn’t expect him to accept a pay raise as a new member of the board, and didn’t want to break trust with his constituents.

On Tuesday, however, Paulding voted to pass the raise, while pledging to decline an increase in his own salary.

“What we’re talking about is making sure that this position pays a living wage, so we can attract the most qualified individuals to serve our community,” Paulding said. “This is about good governance and the next generation of our leaders, not about benefiting ourselves.”

Supervisors Debbie Arnold and John Peschong voted against the salary increase with little discussion. Peschong said he will decline the raise, but Arnold did not comment on the item or share if she planned to accept the raise.

“I just don’t think it’s the right time to raise the salary,” Peschong said Tuesday, noting that numerous District 1 residents urged him to vote against the raise.

How will SLO County supervisors’ raise be implemented?

The board members will receive their raise in three phases.

First, on July 23, the supervisors’ salaries will bump from $90,417 to $97,697.

On June 23, 2024, their annual salaries will increase to $105,560, the staff report said. Then, on June 22, 2025, that pay rate will jump to $114,067 a year.

Supervisor seats in Districts 1, 3 and 5 will be on the 2023 ballot. Arnold is not running for office again, so she will not benefit from the June 2025 pay increase — as it will be implemented after her term ends.

If Ortiz-Legg wins another term representing District 3, she will benefit from the June 2025 raise during her next term.

Supervisor Bruce Gibson will receive the full raise. Peschong and Paulding declined the raise, so they will not receive any of the raise installments.

The Human Resources Department recommended the raise to align county supervisor salaries with the rest of the market, Douglas-Schatz said.

SLO County competes for employees in the same market as Santa Barbara County, Monterey County, Fresno County, Cal Poly and other employers, Douglas-Schatz said.

According to a January compensation study, SLO County supervisors are paid 22% below the market median.

“It doesn’t match the responsibilities of the heavy public policy duties that impact every member of the county of San Luis Obispo,” Douglas-Schatz said. “A market-based wage also encourages people of all income levels to run for the office.”

Supervisors are paid $7,535 per month, compared to a median monthly salary of $9,659, the study said.

Douglas-Schatz recommended that the board keep their salaries above 25% of their legislative assistants, who support the supervisors’ work.

Right now, the supervisors’ salaries are 5.4% higher than those of their legislative assistants. Without the raise, supervisors’ salaries would be only 0.3% higher than legislative assistants’ salaries by July 2024, the staff report said.

Some SLO County residents oppose pay increase

At Tuesday’s board meeting, some SLO County residents urged supervisors to vote against the pay raise.

Mike Brown, a representative of the Coalition of Labor Agriculture and Business of San Luis Obispo County, said his organization doesn’t like the new board’s policies, such as their repeal of the Planting Ordinance — a law that adjusted water-use rules for farmers seeking a planting permit.

As a result, Brown said the board didn’t earn a raise yet.

“You should really tie (the raise) to solid accomplishments, like bumping that housing rate up,” Brown said.

Arroyo Grande resident Sissy Pace said the board shouldn’t accept a raise during a difficult economy.

“What is being gained by going to the press and telling them you have a mortgage and bills to pay?” Pace said to the board. “We all do. We have all had to tighten our belts, postpone vacations, make drastic cuts to our budgets to make ends meet. You are no different.”

Gibson disagreed.

“There is no good time for the board to talk about its own compensation,” he said.

He voted for the raise to make the position of SLO County supervisor more accessible to anyone who wants to run for office, he said.

“We need to not have low pay be a barrier to those who want to compete in elections, to take these positions and serve their county,” Gibson said.