STAFF REPORT
City of Lancaster
NB 3
8/25/2026
TN
Date:August 25, 2026
To: Mayor Parris and City Council Members
From:Allison Burns, City Attorney
Subject:An Ordinance Amending Section 2.04.030 of the Lancaster Municipal Code to Establish the Salaries of the Mayor and City Council Members at the Amount Authorized for General Law Cities By California Government Code Section 36516 Recommendation:
Introduce, and conduct the first reading of Ordinance No. ____, an ordinance of the City Council of the City of Lancaster, California, Amending Section 2.04.030 of the Lancaster Municipal Code to Establish the Salaries of the Mayor and City Council Members at the Amount Authorized for General Law Cities By California Government Code Section 36516.
G.C. Section 84308: No
Fiscal Impact:
The proposed ordinance would align the City with the general law and establish $2,550.00 per month as the salary for each member and for the Mayor. Across the five members of the City Council, annual salary cost would increase from approximately $36,000 to approximately $153,000.
Background:
The City of Lancaster is a charter city organized under a charter adopted by the voters and filed with the Secretary of State, designated Charter Chapter No. 5, Statutes of 2010. The compensation of a charter city’s own officers is a municipal affair. (Cal. Const., art. XI, § 5(a), (b)(4)).
Section 203 of the City Charter provides that compensation for the Mayor and each City Council Member “may be set, and from time to time may be changed by ordinance, which ordinance shall be adopted by a four-fifths vote of the Mayor and City Council.” Section 203 sets no dollar ceiling, and the population-based schedule of Government Code section 36516 governs general law cities 2 4
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rather than charter cities. The amount is therefore committed to the City Council’s discretion, bounded by the public purpose and gift of public funds doctrine. (Cal. Const., art. XVI, § 6.) A city council necessarily acts on its own compensation, and the City Charter commits that decision to the City Council by supermajority ordinance. No member is disqualified from participating and no member is required to recuse. Because Section 203 does not require that an increase be deferred to a new term, the City Council’s election on the deferral question should be stated on the record.
Attachment:
Ordinance No. ____ Amending Section 2.04.030 of the Lancaster Municipal Code to Establish the Salaries of the Mayor and City Council Members at the Amount Authorized for General Law Cities By California Government Code Section 36516