Next week, the county supervisors will be asked to approve a pay raise for themselves of $56,158 a year. Translated, that’s a 48 percent pay hike from the $115,000 base salary the county’s supervisors currently receive. The awkward political optics of this proposal have already generated howls of protest from Santa Barbara County’s longest tenured anti-government crusader, Andy Caldwell of COLAB.
According to a recent survey of comparable counties, Santa Barbara County Supervisors are paid 32.8 percent less than the median pay of their counterparts. Perhaps more striking, Santa Barbara supervisors are paid 27.8 percent less than their own chiefs of staff.
“Their current salary is equal to what an entry or journey level professional might earn in the County organization,” reads the staff report accompanying the recommendation. “Yet supervisors have a significantly greater scope, scale, and responsibility in enacting their duties and their decisions have multimillion-dollar impacts countywide.”
The staff report also notes that the position qualifies as a full-time job and that the salary offered makes a difference in a candidate’s ability to run for and hold office while supporting families.
Still, it qualifies as the most dramatic jump recommended for a host of elected-executive positions under consideration. Next week, the supervisors will also be asked to approve a 15 percent pay raise for the Sheriff, a 9.1 percent raise for the District Attorney, 6.9 percent raises for the Treasurer Tax Collector and the Clerk Recorder, and a 5.7 percent raise for the Auditor Controller.
