15 September 22, 2026
Honorable Mayor and City Council
City of Long Beach
California
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation to adopt a Resolution approving a Letter of Agreement to the 2023- 2026 Memorandum of Understanding with the Long Beach Management Association (LBMA) and revised Citywide Salary Schedule & Management Salary Schedule (Citywide).
DISCUSSION
I. The City of Long Beach (City) intends to amend the Management Salary Schedule to reflect an increase to the City Health Officer classification’s assigned salary range.
The City Health Officer is a state-mandated position for a local health jurisdiction, requiring a designated, licensed physician to exercise statutory public health authority.
Without a Health Officer, the Department faces significant gaps in its statutory public health authority, including the ability to respond to communicable disease outbreaks, issue health orders, and fulfill legally required public health officer duties. This is not a discretionary role, and an extended vacancy exposes the Department to legal and operational risk, particularly in the event of an outbreak or other public health emergency requiring immediate exercise of Health Officer authority.
The current annual salary for the City Health Officer position is not competitive with comparable Health Officer roles in similar regions, creating a significant barrier to attracting a qualified physician candidate for this critical public health leadership role.
Physician-level public health leadership positions typically command higher compensation in comparable jurisdictions, reflecting the extensive education, licensure, and specialized training required, as well as competing opportunities in clinical practice and hospital administration. Approving an increase to the current annual salary would bring the position in line with comparable jurisdictions and remove a key barrier to attracting and retaining qualified candidates for this legally mandated role.
The City has reached an agreement with LBMA regarding the applicable change to their represented position. This change is requested for approval as effective August 22, 2026, as noted in the Letter of Agreement and as noted below, as follows:
Classification OCC CODE Salary
Range
From Min/Max
Hourly
To Min/Max
Hourly
City Health Officer AD4NN E26 $115.818 $123.005
Human Resources
411 West Ocean Boulevard, 10th Floor, Long Beach, CA 90802 (562) 570-6621
Honorable Mayor and City Council
September 22, 2026
2 3
4 7
II. The Citywide Salary Schedule & Management Salary Schedule are being revised and submitted for approval to reflect the change to the management classification salary range and as reflected in the LBMA LOA, effective August 22, 2026.
This matter was reviewed by Assistant City Attorney Gary J. Anderson on August 31, 2026, and by Budget Analysis Officer Greg Sorensen on September 2, 2026.
TIMING CONSIDERATIONS
City Council action is requested on September 22, 2026, to ensure timely implementation of the requested changes on the applicable effective dates.
FISCAL IMPACT
The City Health Officer (CHO) position is budgeted in the Health Fund Group in the Health and Human Services Department. Any applicable increase in cost in FY 26 and FY 27 will be offset temporarily by salary savings in the vacant physician classification. Any changes to the budgeted classification will be incorporated in the annual budget process. Additionally, since the CHO is part of the executive leadership, this position is included in the Department’s indirect cost plan and is partially offset by reimbursable indirect costs to grants and programs. This recommendation has a moderate staffing impact to implement the payroll changes but is within the normal budgeted scope of duties and is consistent with existing City Council priorities. There is no local job impact associated with this recommendation.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Approve recommendation.
Respectfully submitted,
Bryce M. Tyler
Director
Human Resources
ATTACHMENT – RESOLUTION (LBMA LOA)
CITYWIDE SALARY SCHEDULE AND MANAGEMENT SALARY SCHEDULE