Santa Barbara County Supervisors Approve 48% Pay Raise, Boosting Salaries to $171K
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Update: The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors voted late Tuesday at the Santa Barbara County Administration Building to approve a pay raise that will increase their annual salaries by approximately $55,000, bringing their total yearly compensation to $171,000. The 48% salary increase will take effect on May 12.
The board passed the measure in a 3-1-1 vote, with Supervisors Joan Hartmann, Steve Lavagnino, and Das Williams in favor. Supervisor Bob Nelson opposed the increase, advocating for an independent commission to review and recommend salary adjustments. First District Supervisor Roy Lee abstained from the vote.
The proposal also included salary increases for elected department heads, including the auditor-controller, clerk-recorder-assessor, district attorney, sheriff, and treasurer-tax collector-public administrator.
Previous : The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors could be on the way to pay raise approvals for all supervisors and some high ranking staff members.
The supervisors specifically could see their pay go from $115,151 to a possible median pay of $171,309 – which is a figure determined by the pay for supervisors in other counties. Some are larger. That would include Marin, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, San Diego, Ventura and Orange.
The increase would be 48.8%.
Other department heads could also have their salaries increased from abut 1% to nearly 17%. That would include sheriff, district attorney, clerk/recorder/assessor, tax collector, and auditor controller.
The supervisors duties are most visible at their Tuesday meetings, but they also meet with constituents, those who have projects pending at the county levels, attend public meetings, and maintaining an understanding of policies pertaining to their decisions.
Watchdog groups have said the supervisors are not working full-time and a raise is not justified. Board members have stated they do work at least 40 hours a week, at times more.
They are also called upon for crisis management in a disaster.
The county's size is a budget of $1.6 Billion with 441K constituents and 4,700 employees.
