CITY OF OAKLAND
Public Ethics Commission
RESOLUTION NO. 26-03
Adopted 4-15-26
RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING A SALARY INCREASE FOR THE OFFICE OF CITY AUDITOR PURSUANT TO OAKLAND CITY CHARTER SECTION 403(1)
By action of the Oakland Public Ethics Commission:
WHEREAS, Oakland City Charter section 403(1) provides: “The salary of the City Auditor shall be set every two (2) years 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 term of office, except as a part of a general reduction of salaries for all officers and employees in the same amount or proportion”; and
WHEREAS, Oakland City Charter section 207 charges the City Council with fixing the compensation of all City employees, officers and officials unless otherwise provided by the Charter; and
WHEREAS, Ordinance No. 12187 C.M.S., the “Salary Ordinance,” as amended, sets forth a salary schedule reflecting all classifications of employment within the City including those of city employees and city officers; and
WHEREAS, a salary adjustment to $238,849.15 annually would provide competitive compensation and equitable alignment of the City Auditor’s salary by providing the City Auditor with a salary that is at least 15 percent above the top of the range for the highest paid professional employee in the Auditor’s Office, that is comparable with the salaries of City Auditors in other comparable-size cities and Bay Area jurisdictions, and that also accounts for the salaries of other City department heads.
Now, therefore be it:
RESOLVED, that the Commission does hereby authorize an annual salary of $238,849.15 ($19,904.10 per month) for the office of City Auditor as mandated by City Charter Section 403(1), effective as of the first payroll period of Fiscal Year 2026-2027.
CITY OF OAKLAND
Public Ethics Commission
RESOLUTION NO. 26-03
Adopted 4-15-26
CERTIFICATION RE: APPROVAL OF RESOLUTION
The foregoing Resolution was presented for approval at a duly noticed meeting of the City of Oakland Public Ethics Commission held on April 15, 2026, where a quorum of the membership of the Commission was present. The Commission approved the resolution by a vote of 4 to 1 .
AYES: BRANDON, FISHER, MICIK, AND TILAK
NOES: CHAIR UPTON IV
ABSTAIN: None
ABSENT: APFELD, BAYEVA
I hereby certify that the foregoing is true and correct. 4/15/2026
Suzanne Doran, Executive Director Date
Oakland Public Ethics Commission
Francis Upton IV, Chair
Karun Tilak, Vice Chair
Luke Apfeld
Tanya Bayeva
L. Lawrence Brandon
Angi Fisher
Ryan Micik
Suzanne Doran, Executive Director
250 FRANK H. OGAWA PLAZA (DALZIEL BLDG.) , SUITE 6303, OAKLAND, CA 94612 TEL: (510) 238 -3593 | [email protected] TO: Jestin D. Johnson , City Administrato r
Betsy Lake, Assistant City Administrator
Bradley Johnson , Finance Director
Mary Hao , Human Resources Director
FROM: Suzanne Doran, Executive Director , Public Ethics Commission DATE: April 15, 2026
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 include setting the City Auditor’s salary level to the duties of the Public Ethics Commission (PEC or Commission). Every two years, the Commission is responsible for adjusting the City Auditor’s salary based on criteria specified by City Charter Section 403(1). This memorandum communicates the Commission’s decision on April 15, 2026, to authorize a salary adjustment that meets the Charter criteria and increases the salary amount for City Auditor to an annual salary of $238,849.15, effective on the first payroll period of the 2026-2027 Fiscal Year.
Background
The City Auditor is the department head for the Office of the City Auditor and oversees a staff of approximately nine full time equivalent (FTE) positions.1 The current City Auditor was most recently elected in March 2024.
Prior to 2023, the City Auditor’s salary was set by the City Council. In November 2022, Oakland voters passed Measure X, which amended the process for adjusting the City Auditor’s salary and assigned the responsibility to the Commission. Measure OO, passed by voters in November 2024, further amended Section 403(1) by changing the adjustment to a biennial (every other year) adjustment rather than a yearly adjustment. Section 403(1) of the City Charter provides that:
The salary of the City Auditor shall be set every two (2) years 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 term of office, except as a part of
1 This represents the number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) positions as reported by the City’s Finance Department. Data provided by Shaleen Singh, Human Resources Operations Supervisor, Finance Department, February 23, 2026.
Staff Memo - City Auditor Salary Adjustment – April 16, 2026 p. 2
a general reduction of salaries for all officers and employees in the same amount or proportion.
The Commission last adjusted the salary for City Auditor by
6.3 percent in 2024, resulting in a PEC-authorized annual salary of $226,612.19.2 The table at the right shows salary increases approved by the Commission from 2023 through
2024.
Payroll adjustments must be included in the citywide salary schedule adopted by City Council and take effect on the first payroll period after the beginning of the new fiscal year, which begins July 1.
Analysis
Highest Paid Professional Employee – In adjusting the Auditor’s salary, the Charter requires that the Commission take into account, “the top of the range for the highest paid professional employee in the Office of the City Auditor.” The 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 $192,620.28 per year. According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward area rose 5.4 percent from December 2023 to December 2025. 3 Since the July 2024 City Auditor salary
adjustment, non-sworn represented employees and most City of Oakland department heads received a salary increase of two percent effective March 1, 2025.
According to the City’s Human Resources Department, best practices dictate a differential of at least 15 to 20 percent between a supervisor/manager and their highest paid direct reporting employee, although among executive management this is not always achieved. 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 $221,513.32 and $231,144.34. The City Auditor presently makes 17.6 percent more than the highest paid professional employee, which is within that range.
Other City Department Heads – In adjusting the Auditor’s salary, the Charter requires that the Commission take into account “salaries for other City department heads.” The salary range for Oakland department heads is from $200,000.04 to $350,792.40. The mean annual salary for a department head (excluding the City Auditor) is $271,702.04 per year and the median annual salary is $270,415.08. Of Oakland’s 23 department heads, the City Auditor salary is the second lowest salary.
In terms of staff size, the Auditor’s Office is a small City department. Of the five departments (excluding the City Auditor’s Office) with under 20 FTE, the mean annual salary for a department head is $240,488.33 per year and the median annual salary is $239,007.96. Oakland’s City Auditor makes
2 According to the City’s current Salary Ordinance, the City Auditor’s actual annual salary is $226,612.10, $ .09 below the PEC -authorized salary.
Actual salary amounts may vary slightly from the authorized annual salary due to standard payroll system calculation and rounding when annual amounts are applied across pay periods. Salary data provided by Anjali Saxena, Payroll Manager, Finance Department. January 29, 2026. 3 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. San Francisco- Oakland-Hayward, CA Consumer Price Index. December 2023 – December 2025. Data retrieved January 28, 2026 from https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CUURS49BSA0. Inflation formula: (CPI2 – CPI1) / CPI1) x 100 = ___%) Year PEC-Authorized
Annual Salary
Percent
Increase
2024 $226,612.19 6.3
2023 $213,137.51 17.6
Staff Memo - City Auditor Salary Adjustment – April 16, 2026 p. 3
94.2 percent of the mean and 94.8 percent of the median department head salary for comparable-size departments.
Public Sector Auditor Positions – In adjusting the Auditor’s salary, the Charter provides that the Auditor’s compensation shall be “comparable to the salaries of public sector Auditor positions in California cities and counties selected by the Commission.” The Commission surveyed other California cities with the four immediate higher and four immediate lower populations compared to Oakland. However, only three cities have auditor positions, Sacramento, Long Beach, and Stockton. The salary range for the City Auditor position in those comparable-size California cities is from $159,978.20 to $282,281.90. The mean annual salary is $222,420.03 and the median annual salary is $225,000.00. Oakland’s City Auditor makes 101.9 percent of the mean and 100.7 percent of the median City Auditor salary in comparable-size cities.
In accordance with the Charter criteria, staff also surveyed City Auditor salaries for surrounding Bay Area cities and the salary of the Auditor-Controller for Alameda County. The salary range for comparable Auditor positions in Bay Area jurisdictions is from $209,278.58 to $312,575.38. The mean annual salary is $273,656.42 per year and the median annual salary is $286,385.86. Oakland’s City Auditor makes 82.8 percent of the mean and 79.1 percent of the median City Auditor salary in Bay Area jurisdictions.
PEC Action and Next Steps
The Public Ethics Commission discussed adjusting the City Auditor’s salary based on the salary survey data and criteria set forth in City Charter Section 403(1) and voted to approve a 5.4 percent salary adjustment resulting in a new annual salary amount of $238,849.15 ($19,904.10 per month) at its public meeting on April 15, 2026, as described in the attached Resolution.
The table below provides a summary comparing the current City Auditor salary and the new PEC- authorized salary with the Charter criteria:
Current
Salary
PEC-
authorized
Increase
City Auditor salary $226,612.10 $238,849.15
Mean
Difference
(%)
Difference
(%)
Top Paid Employee $192,620.2
8 17.6 24.0
Other Department Heads (n=22) $271,702.0
4 -16.6 -12.1
20 FTE or less Department Heads (5) $240,488.33 -5.8 -0.7 Comparable-Size Cities (3) $222,420.03 1.9 7.4
Bay Area Jurisdictions (4) $273,656.42 -17.2 -12.7
This memorandum and resolution transmit the Commission’s action to the City Administrator for implementation by Budget and Payroll staff.
Staff Memo - City Auditor Salary Adjustment – April 16, 2026 p. 4
Commission staff recommend that the Department of Human Resources include the Commission- approved salary adjustment in the next salary ordinance amendment to accurately reflect the total authorized salary amount available to the City Auditor.
Attachments: PEC Resolution 26-03