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PUBLIC HEARING TO REVIEW AND APPROVE AN ANNUAL SALARY OF $26,696.75 WITH NO BENEFITS, OR AN ALTERNATIVE OPTION, FOR CITY COUNCILMEMBERS PURSUANT TO ARTICLE IV, SECTION 410 OF THE STOCKTON CITY CHARTER
recommended action
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the Salary Setting Commission (Commission) conduct a Public Hearing to review and approve a recommendation for an annual salary of $26,696.75 with no benefits, for City Councilmembers.
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Summary
The Commission previously directed staff to schedule a Public Hearing to review and approve their unanimous recommendation of providing City Councilmembers with an annual salary of $26,696.75 with no benefits. A Public Hearing was then held on February 22, 2018 with four Commissioners, who after further discussion, did not approve the recommendation with a split vote. During this meeting, the Commission requested additional information about the approximate amount of time Stockton Councilmembers spend performing their elected duties, which is outlined in this report.
This Public Hearing is being held with the full Commission to review the requested information and to reconsider approving the prior recommendation of providing City Councilmembers with an annual salary of $26,696.75 with no benefits, or an alternative option.
DISCUSSION
Background
The Commission initially met on January 11, 2018, to review and discuss the report provided by Human Resources staff. At this meeting, staff provided detailed analysis regarding salary comparison information for City Councilmembers. After discussing the information provided, the Commission requested additional information as follows:
• City Councilmember job description or duty statement information from comparison agencies with part time councilmembers; and
• The Commission’s 2015 salary and benefits recommendation for City Councilmembers.
The next Commission meeting was held on January 25, 2018. At this meeting, staff provided the Commission with the information requested from the January 11, 2018 meeting and outlined five options for the Commission to consider in making their final recommendation.
After a detailed discussion of all the information provided on January 25, 2018, the Commission unanimously directed staff to schedule a public hearing on February 8, 2018, which was re-scheduled to February 22, 2018, and to prepare a report whereby the Commission recommends providing City Councilmembers with an annual salary of $26,696.75 and no benefits. This recommendation was based on a Councilmember’s current annual salary of $16,529, applying a 6% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) that employees received in 2016, and providing an additional $9,176 in salary for reasonable benefit expenses that equate to approximately one-half of the cost of benefits provided to the Mayor.
Present Situation
On February 22, 2018, the Commission held a Public Hearing with four Commissioners in attendance to review and approve the unanimous recommendation from January 25, 2018. During this meeting, the Commission heard public comment about the recommendation, discussed the recommendation and previously provided options in detail, and voted on the recommendation to provide City Councilmembers with an annual salary of $26,696.75. With a split vote, the Commission did not approve the recommendation. After further discussion, the Commission directed staff to schedule another Public Hearing and to provide additional information about the approximate amount of time that City Councilmembers spend performing their elected duties. Although City Councilmembers do not specifically track the amount of time they commit to being an elected official, the following information is provided to give the Commission an idea of the amount of time devoted to this responsibility.
In 2017, the Stockton City Council held 33 meetings for a total of approximately 70 hours of open session meeting time. In addition, the Council spent approximately 30 hours in closed session reviewing and deciding on a variety of issues. As it relates to the 33 meetings, the Council considered 294 separate agenda items consisting of 13,681 pages of information. In addition to the regular Council meetings, Councilmembers are appointed to a variety of city and outside agency committees, approximately 33 different committees, ranging from Community Improvement and Crime Prevention to the San Joaquin Council of Governments Board. These committees meet on a regular basis and require Councilmembers to review and make decisions on other agenda items outside of regular City Council meetings.
In addition to attending and participating in City Council meetings and study sessions twice or more each month, City Councilmembers meet with the City Manager and other Council appointees weekly, or on an as needed basis, and often have daily telephone and email correspondence with City staff. In order to stay abreast of current events and best management practices, City Councilmembers often attend annual conferences and meetings, such as the League of California Cities Annual Conference and the Central Valley Division of the League of California Cities quarterly meeting. Additionally, Councilmembers attend a host of community events throughout the year to promote local businesses, celebrate local organizational and civic milestones, and to support the community overall. Finally, Councilmembers often spend countless hours responding to constituent concerns and questions through phone calls, emails, and a variety of on-site and off-site meetings. City staff will be available at the Public Hearing to address any questions regarding this information.
As previously noted, the Commission’s prior unanimous recommendation fits within the City’s Long-range Financial Plan. The recommended annual salary of $26,696.75 is below the market median by 10.17% and below the market average by 23.88% for total compensation when compared to the other 12 agencies that were studied that have part-time Councilmembers (Attachment A).
The City Charter, Article XXVI, Section 2602, prohibits providing any retirement or death benefit plans to elected officials.
Should the Commission approve the recommendation, staff will move forward with preparing the appropriate staff report and supporting documents for City Council consideration in accordance with Article IV, Section 410 of the Stockton City Charter.
Attachment A - Comparison Information Based on Prior Recommendation