Ryan Micik (Chair)
C harlotte Hill (Vice-Chair)
Alea Gage
Arvon Perteet
Vincent Steele
Francis Upton IV
Suzanne Doran, Acting Executive Director
TO: Public Ethics Commission
FROM: Ana Lara-Franco, Commission Analyst
Suzanne Doran, Acting Executive Director
DATE: March 30, 2023, for the April 12, 2023, PEC Meeting RE: City Auditor Salary Adjustment as Required by City Charter Section 403(1) In November 2022, Oakland voters passed Measure X, which amended Oakland City Charter Section 403(1) to add setting the City Auditor salary level to the duties of the Public Ethics Commission (PEC or Commission). This memorandum provides background information for the Commission to adjust the City Auditor salary per the criteria specified by City Charter Section 403(1).
B
ackground
T
he City Auditor is the department head for the Office of the City Auditor and oversees a staff of approximately 13 FTE positions . In November 2018 and November 2022 , the voters elected the current City Auditor to serve full, four -year terms. At present, the salary of the City Auditor is $181,203.12 per year. The salary of the City Auditor position was last adjusted on April 2, 2019.
I
n November 2022, Oakland voters passed Measure X, which amended the process for setting the City Auditor’s salary as follows:
T
he salary of the City Auditor shall be set annually by the Public Ethics Commission, to provide for competitive compensation and equitable alignment and, taking into account the top of the range for the highest paid professional employee in the Office of the City Auditor and salaries for other City department heads, and shall be comparable to the salaries of public sector auditor positions in California cities and counties selected by the Commission. The City Auditor's salary may not be reduced during the City Auditor's te rm of office, except as a part of a general reduction of salaries for all officers and employees in the same amount or proportion.
An
alysis
Si
nce the April 2, 2019, salary increase, the City has negotiated wage increases through the collective bargaining process. The non-public safety wage increases, as opposed to Police and Fire wage increases, can be a consideration in establishing the new wage since it appli es to both City Auditor employees and to other Department Heads. The Department Heads received the same wage increase through Salary Ordinance 12187 C.M.S. section 2.20 , which allows the City Administrator to provide the same negotiated wage increases to unrepresented employees.
T
he Assistant City Auditor is the highest paid direct report for the City Auditor. The maximum annual salary for the Assistant City Auditor position in the Office of the City Auditor currently is $ 176,219.52 per year while the annual salary for the City Auditor is $181,203.121. The City’s compensation practice 1 Salary data provided by Anjali Saxena, Payroll Manager, Finance Department. January 17, 2023 Item 6 - Staff Memorandum
with Measure X text
City Auditor Salary Adjustment
March 30, 2023
2 is to have a minimum of 15 to 20 percent salary differential between a department head and their highest direct reporting employee. For the City Auditor salary to be 15 to 20 percent above the salary of the highest direct reporting employee would be a salary between $202,652.45 and $211,463.42.
In accordance with the criteria for establishing the permissible salary range for the City Auditor in Charter Section 403(1), salaries for other City department heads were surveyed (see Table 1 below).
Table 1: City Department Head Salaries
Based on the above data, the salary range for Oakland department heads is from $ 192,409.08 to $286,897.20. The average annual salary for a department head is $240,131.34 per year.
In accordance with the criteria establishing the permissible salary range for the City Auditor in Charter Section 40 3(1), salaries of City Auditor’s from other California cities within the three immediate higher and lower populations compared to Oakland were surveyed (see Table 2 below).
The majority of the identified cities do not currently have City Auditor classifications.
Dept Head Annual Salary
City Clerk 192,409.08
EE
O & Civil Rights Director 211,293.60
Executive Director of CPRA 218,656.00
Director of Race and Equity 218,657.52
Director of Housing & Community Dev 235,620.00
Director of Human Services 235,620.00
Director of Parks & Recreation 235,620.00
Director of Planning & Building 247,390.44
Director of Workplace & Employment Stnd 247,390.44
Chief of Violence Prevention 247,390.56
Director of Animal Services 247,390.56
Director of Economic & Workforce Dev 247,390.56
Director of Human Resources Management 247,390.56
Director of Information Technology 247,390.56
Director of Library Services 247,390.56
Director of Transportation 247,390.56
Director of Finance 261,075.84
Director of Public Works 286,897.20
Average Salary (excluding City Auditor) 240,131.34
City Auditor 181,203.12
Item 6 - Staff Memorandum
with Measure X text
City Auditor Salary Adjustment
March 30, 2023
3 Table 2: California Cities Auditor Salaries
*https://publicpay.ca.gov/
Based on the above data, the average annual salary for City Auditor in comparable -size California cities i s $214,091.00 per year while the current annual salary for the City Auditor is $181,203.12 ( 85 percent of the average).
In accordance with the criteria for establishing the permissible salary range for the City Auditor in Charter Section 403(1), staff surveyed City Auditor salaries for surrounding Bay Area Cities (see Table 3 below).
Table 3: Bay Area Cities City Auditor Salaries
Based on the above data, the average annual salary for City Auditor in Bay Area cities is $211,960.47 per year while the current annual salary for the City Auditor is $181,203.12 (85 percent of the average salary).
Recommendation
Based on the above data, which relies on the criteria set forth in City Charter Section 40 3(1), an adjustment to an annual salary of $213,137.51 is recommended as it provides equity and alignment of the City A uditor’s salary by adding a n 18 percent differential above the highest paid subordinate City Population* Annual
Salary
Fresno 543,660 NA
Sacramento 518,037 194,873.00
Long Beach 460,682 233,309.00
Bakersfield 408,865 N/A
Anaheim 341,245 N/A
Riverside 317,847 N/A
Average Salary $214,091.00
Oakland 424,464 181,203.12
City Annual Salary
City of Oakland - City Auditor $ 181,203.12
City of Fremont - City Auditor NA
City of Santa Clara - City Auditor NA
City and County of San Francisco -
City Auditor NA
Alameda County - Auditor-
Controller** $ 244,753.60
City of San Jose - City Auditor $ 214,915.67
City of Alameda - City Auditor NA
City of Hayward - City Auditor NA
City of Berkeley - City Auditor ** 176,212.14$
City of Mountain View - City Auditor NA
Average survey salary (excluding
Oakland's) 211,960.47$
Item 6 - Staff Memorandum
with Measure X text
City Auditor Salary Adjustment
March 30, 2023
4 auditor and staff salaries in the Office, is comparable to the salaries of auditors in other Bay Area cities, and accounts for the scheduled 2.5 percent negotiated wage increase for other City employees effective July 2023.2
Table 4: Comparison Summary
Scheduled wage increases under the current collective bargaining agreements with non-public safety represented employees include 2.5 percent on July 2023, 2.5 percent January 2024, 2 percent July 2024 and 2 percent March 2025. Staff recommends the Commission accounts for future increases , excluding the 2.5 percent July 2023 increase, in the annual adjustment of the City Auditor’s salary.
Following the Commission’s determination of the adjustment amount, Commission staff will transmit the salary adjustment resolution to the City Administrator, the Department of Human Resources (to amend the salary ordinance), and the Treasury Division - Payroll (to implement the increase).
2 Salary adjustment calculated as follows: Highest paid City Auditor office employee salary + 18% differential +
2.5% increase to maintain parity with scheduled wage increase for non-public safety employees effective 7/1/23.
Ci ty Department Head - Average 240,131.34$
Highe st Paid Em ploye e - Salary 176,219.52$
Com parable -size California Citie s - A ve rage 214,091.00$ Bay Area Ci ti es - Average 211,960.47$
Oakland City Auditor - Current 181,203.12$
Oakland City Auditor - Recommended Adjustment 213,137.51$ Item 6 - Staff Memorandum
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