C
ITY OF FRESNO
T
RANSPARENCY IN CITY GOVERNMENT ACT
Amended [December 18, 2025]November 17, 2022
The following policies are enacted to help improve and enhance transparency in City of Fresno government operations by providing disclosure of City employees and elected officials compensation. This Act shall supersede any provisions of the Fresno Municipal Code, resolutions, or employment contracts that are inconsistent, except for provisions of any approved Memorandum of Understanding with a City bargaining unit.
ARTICLE I
DEFINITIONS
Base Salary
The base salary is the defined salary of an elected or public official as set forth in either the annually approved City salary resolution or by a negotiated contract between the City and a public official.
Benchmark or Peer Cities
Benchmark or peer cities represent those cities in California that are comparable population wise and demographically to Fresno.
Bonus
Compensation paid to employees in the form of cash that are in addition to base salary [not authorized by Council ].but not covered by another form of Council authorized compensation (e.g., authorized pays such as car allowance, premium pay, leave cash out, City funded deferred compensation contributions, recruitment and/or retention incentives).
City Charter Officials
Certain City officials are identified in the City’s Charter including the Mayor, Council members, the City Manager, City Attorney, City Clerk and City Controller/Treasurer.
Consultant Services
Consultant services are professional services provided by individuals or entities who are not employed by the City of Fresno.
Evergreen Provision
A contract provision that automatically renews the length of the agreement after a predetermined period, unless notice for termination is given. Evergreens are often used for long-term agreements such as memberships or maintenance contracts.
Executive Employees
Executive level employees are unclassified, “at will” department head and management and confidential positions set forth in Unit 2 of the City’s salary resolution.
Gross Wages
An employee’s pre- tax compensation including all normal salary/hourly earnings, bonuses, overtime, deferred compensation, leave payoff/administrative leave, car allowance, and pay deferential.
Municipal Code Section 4-107 (b)
Municipal Code Section 4- 107 (b) provides that except for legal services, the City Manager is authorized to contract for all services required by the City for which an appropriation has been made; provided the contract involves an expenditure of City moneys of less than or equal to fifty thousand dollars ($50,000).
Professional Services
Professional services are infrequent, technical or unique functions provided by independent contractors or consultants whose occupation is the rendering of professional services.
Request for Proposal
A Request for Proposal (RFP) is a solicitation initiated by the City to provide a competitive process for selecting professional consultants , and establishing terms and conditions thereof.
ARTICLE II
PURPOSE OF ACT
Revelations in 2010 in the City of Bell, California and recently in the City of Fresno have brought attention to the compensation of public officials. In a time of declining revenues and decreasing budgets it is important for the City to demonstrate fiscal responsibility and transparency. Salaries, benefits and pension costs represent over 80% of the costs of the City General Fund. The public has a right to know compensation levels for all City employees. It is imperative that the City of Fresno takes the lead in providing full disclosure of compensation of its employees including executive public officials and elected officials. The purpose of this Act is to create an easy to find, readily available means to view current employees and elected officials compensation levels. It is also important to compare the compensation levels of City executive and elected officials with officials from our peer cities in California.
Objectives of Act:
1. To provide annual disclosure of City of Fresno employees and elected official compensation.
2. To provide a comparative analysis of compensation levels for executive employees and elected officials in peer cities in California.
3. Adopt enabling legislation via a municipal resolution to establish necessary policies.
ARTICLE III
CITY ELECTED OFFICIALS AND EMPLOYEE EARNINGS DISCLOSURE The City of Fresno shall provide the California State Controller’s Office with compensation data on an annual basis as required by California Government Code sections 53891 and 53892. An easy to find link on the City’s website shall be directed to the information published on the State Controller’s Office website ( publicpay.ca.gov) disclosing such information, consistent with California Government Code section 12463.
ARTICLE IV
CONSULTANTS DISCLOSURE
The total annual compensation paid to any consultant providing professional services for the City shall be disclosed including those consultants making less than $50,000 per year.
A report will be prepared by the City Manager detailing the following information:
1. The name of the consultant;
2. A description of the consulting services provided; and
3. A detailed account of all payments by the City to the consultant including the total paid for the fiscal year.
ARTICLE V
UNIT 2 EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS, BONUS, SALARY INCREASES, AND SEVERANCE PAY [EXCEPT FOR CHARTER OFFICIALS APPOINTED BY THE MAYOR AND/OR THE CITY COUNCIL].
For all Unit 2 – Non-represented Management and Confidential Classes officials and employees, [except Charter Officials appointed by the Mayor and/or the City Council,] no additional cash compensation in addition to base salary shall be paid unless authorized in the City’s salary resolution [or another resolution or ordinance] (i.e., if it is not [approved by Council in a resolution, ordinance, or ] covered by another form of Council authorized compensation it is an unauthorized cash bonus) . Unless specifically authorized by Council, all Unit 2 – Non-represented Management and Confidential Classes officials and employees shall only receive base salary increases in their current classifications to be effective no earlier than 30 days prior to the date of submission to the Personnel Services Department of a completed employee action form ( EAF) (i.e., retroactive raises shall be for no more than 30 days and shall only be granted due to delays in processing times of the employee action form . No increases authorized herein shall be submitted to the Personnel Services Department for processing until a written performance evaluation of the official or employee has been completed.
For all Unit 2 – Non-represented Management and Confidential Classes officials and employees, the appointing authority may authorize an employment contract with the official or employee. Unless specifically authorized by the Council, for any such employment contract to be valid and enforceable, the following conditions shall be required:
1. The contract shall be executed by the appointing authority and the employee, and approved by the City Attorney as to form;
2. A copy of the fully executed contract, including any amendments, shall be provided to the City Clerk, who shall make the contract available for inspection on the City’s website;
3. The contract may provide for the payment of deferred compensation as authorized in the City’s salary resolution;
4. The contract may provide for severance pay, not to exceed one year base pay, plus the City’s contribution of health care benefits during that time, starting from the last day of service; health care benefits shall not be authorized for a time period that exceeds the stated severance term;
5. Severance pay shall not be authorized in the event of the employee’s voluntary separation from service, retirement, or termination for cause, including but not limited to criminal conviction, misfeasance, or malfeasance in office; except when the City Manager[, City Attorney, or City Clerk] determines that it is in the City’s best interest to pay up to three (3) months severance for the good of the service [for their respective appointed employees].
6. Any existing applicable employment contracts shall be revised to conform to these provisions.
ARTICLE VI
[EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS, BONUS, SALARY INCREASES, AND
SEVERANCE PAY FOR CHARTER OFFICIALS APPOINTED BY THE MAYOR
AND/OR THE CITY COUNCIL
For all Charter Officials appointed by the Mayor and/or the City Council, additional cash compensation and/or fringe benefits, in addition to base salary, may be paid if specifically authorized by Council resolution, or ordinance, subject to limitations under federal, state, and local law, including the Charter of the City of Fresno. Unless specifically authorized by Council, all Charter Officials appointed by the Mayor and/or the City Council shall only receive base salary increases in their current classifications to be effective no earlier than 30 days prior to the date of submission to the Personnel Services Department of a completed employee action form (EAF) (i.e., retroactive raises shall be for no more than 30 days and shall only be granted due to delays in processing times of the employee action form. ). No increases authorized herein shall be submitted to the Personnel Services Department for processing until a written performance evaluation of the official or employee has been completed.
For all Charter Officials appointed by the Mayor and/or the City Council, the appointing authority may authorize an employment contract with the Charter Official . For any such employment contract to be valid and enforceable, the following conditions shall be required:
1. A copy of the fully executed contract, including any amendments, shall be provided to the City Clerk, who shall make the contract available for inspection on the City’s website; and
2. The contract may provide for other fringe benefits or cash compensation as authorized by Council in this resolution, subject to compliance with federal, state, and local law, including the Charter of the City of Fresno.]
ARTICLE [VII]VI
BENCHMARK CITIES EXECUTIVE EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION MATRIX The compensation of executive employees for the 10 California benchmark cities shall be presented in a side- by side comparison matrix. The following executive positions shall be included in the peer city comparison: City Manager; Assistant City Manager; C ity Attorney; City Clerk; City Controller/Treasurer; Police Chief and Fire Chief. This matrix will detail comparable executive city positions showing the compensation levels.
Compensation displayed will include base salaries and, when information is available, other types of compensation (e.g. performance bonuses). Because of the inherent difficulty in obtaining data on any additional compensation it may be difficult to disclose full compensation figures for defined executive positions from other peer cities.
If any future comparisons of any other employee classification become necessary, they shall use the same 10 California benchmark cities. This matrix shall be updated every year to reflect current population statistics and compensation levels. Please see Exhibit ‘A’ for sample matrix (attached hereto and incorporated by reference).
ARTICLE [VIII]VII
CALIFORNIA 10 LARGEST CITIES ELECTED
OFFICIALS COMPENSATION MATRIX
The compensation for elected officials of the 10 largest cities in California shall be presented in a side-by-side comparison matrix. The matrix will detail comparable elected officials’ compensation levels. This matrix display shall be updated every calendar year to reflect current population statistics and compensation levels. Please see Exhibit ‘B’ for sample matrix (attached hereto and incorporated by reference).
ARTICLE [IX]VIII
EXTENDED NOTICE FOR CONTRACTS
WITH CONTINOUS (“EVERGREEN”) PROVISONS
The City Council shall be provided seven business days prior notice of the effective date of any employee contract containing an evergreen provision automatically increasing compensation for any employee earning a base salary of $100,000 per year or more unless the increase is consistent with increases for other unclassified employees.
ARTICLE [X]IX
TRANSPARENCY
Since the inception of this Act, there have been changes to State law that require the City to submit compensation for all City employees t o the State Controller’s office. This information is readily available at publicpay.ca.gov.
ARTICLE [XI]X
EFFECTIVE DATE
This resolution shall take effect upon its adoption.
Attachments: Exhibits A and B