Supervisors, Sheriff, DA, More May Get Pay Hike

County Board of Supervisors Consider Pay Hike for Themselves, Others

RIVERSIDE COUNTY — At a time when many residents are working two and three jobs just to put a bowl of cereal on the table or fill their prescriptions, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will consider voting to give themselves, the sheriff, the District Attorney and more a substantial pay hike.

Total cost of the proposed pay hike is $812,501 for fiscal year 2023-24. The County Executive Office and Human Resources are making the recommendation.,

According to the Department of Human Resources, the proposed pay hikes are intended to bring the officials’ salaries up to levels that ensure they’re not making less than some of their executive-level underlings, who are receiving hefty salaries thanks to collective bargaining agreements and other factors.

The California Constitution requires the County to establish compensation and benefits for its elected officials and to do so by ordinance. This includes the Assessor / County Clerk / Recorder, County Auditor-Controller, District Attorney, Sheriff / Coroner / Public Administrator, and Treasurer and Tax Collector, and the members of the Board of Supervisors.

For most of these elected officials, these ordinances were last addressed in 2014. (The District Attorney’s compensation was not adjusted at that time as originally intended but was subsequently amended in 2018.) Human Resources determined that the compensation for elected officials has not kept pace with either the salaries paid to their subordinates or to similarly situated officials in surrounding counties. As a result, they are recommending  =-the salary adjustments.

Following are some examples:

The salary for members of the Board of Supervisors has been set at 80% of a California Superior Court Judge since 1998. Today, that equates to a salary of $190,783. (Individual Board members have accepted or rejected pay increases as the salary of judges has increased over the years.) An external market survey reveals that Orange County and San Bernardino County supervisors are paid the same, but there is disparity in our other neighboring counties: Los Angeles County supervisors are paid $238,479 and San Diego County supervisors are paid$214,631.

Internally, the maximum salary of a Board of Supervisors Chief of Staff is $198,561, 4% higher than a Board member’s salary.

Human Resources recommended to grant the members of the Board of Supervisors an adjustment from
$190,783.22 to $226,359.49, to establish an ongoing internal parity relationship of 14% between
the Board Chief of Staff and the Board member.

The District Attorney’s salary has been set at $273,463 since 2018. An external market survey of Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, and San Bernardino counties reveals that the county mean salary is $351,678 and the median salary is $365,514.

Internally, the Assistant District Attorney’s salary is $308,317, more than 11% higher than the District Attorney. It is recommended to grant the District Attorney an adjustment from $273,463.01 to $351,481.31, to establish an ongoing internal parity relationship of 14% between the Assistant District Attorney and the District Attorney job classifications.

The Sheriff’ / Coroner / Public Administrator’s salary has been set at $273,463 for almost ten years. An external market survey of Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, and San Bernardino counties reveals that the county mean salary is $327,093 and the median salary is $314,362.

Internally, the Undersheriff’s salary is $305,062, more than 10% higher than the Sheriff.

It is recommended to grant the Sheriff / Coroner / Public Administrator an adjustment from$273,463.01 to $347,771.57, to establish an ongoing internal parity relationship of 14% between the Undersheriff and the Sheriff / Coroner / Public Administrator job classifications.

The last time Supervisors considered such massive raises was in 2022. At that time, the salary increases for five Riverside County elected officials. Supervisors rejected the wage increases on a 4-0 vote.