Finance and Management Committee
June 23, 2026
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Elizabeth Lake FROM: Mary Hao
Acting City Administrator HRM Director
SUBJECT: Amendment to Ordinance No. 12187
C.M.S. (The Salary Ordinance) for
Council Member, City Attorney, and
City Auditor
DATE: June 8, 2026
City Administrator Approval Date:
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt An Ordinance Amending The Salary Schedule Of Ordinance No. 12187 C.M.S. (“Salary Ordinance”) To Amend The Salary For Council Member, City Attorney, and City Auditor In Accordance With The Oakland Public Ethics Commission’s Charter-Mandated Salary Adjustments.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Adoption of the proposed ordinance will ensure the accuracy of the City’s classification plan and Salary Schedule. This ordinance includes routine actions to modify the salaries of existing classification titles for three elected official classifications in accordance with the Oakland Public Ethics Commission’s charter-mandated salary adjustments. The proposed items are related to classifications that are allocated in Office of the City Attorney, City Auditor’s Office, and City Council.
BACKGROUND / LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
The Salary Ordinance (Ordinance No. 12187 C.M.S.) establishes salaries as well as other terms and conditions of City employment, including the classification titles and bargaining unit designation of positions. The Ordinance is amended periodically to accommodate the City’s evolving classification needs. Pursuant to the Personnel Manual (Civil Service Rules), Section
3.04, components of the City’s Classification Plan shall be administered and maintained by the Personnel Director with the approval of the Civil Service Board.
As applicable regulations or departmental operations change, staff in the Human Resources Management (HRM) Department consult with departments regarding classification needs.
These changes require HRM to amend the Salary Ordinance to add, amend, or delete certain Betsy Lake (Jun 9, 2026 15:14:24 PDT)
Jun 9, 2026
Elizabeth Lake, Acting City Administrator
Subject: Salary Ordinance Amendment for Council Member, City Attorney, and City Auditor Date: June 8, 2026 Page 2
Finance and Management Committee
June 23, 2026
classifications. The proposed Salary Ordinance Amendment accompanying this report comprises various routine actions to update the salary schedule.
In November 2022, Oakland voters passed Measure X, which amended Oakland City Charter Sections 401(1) and 403(1) to add setting the City Attorney and City Auditor salary levels, respectively, to the duties of the Oakland Public Ethics Commission (PEC). The attached PEC staff reports and Resolutions from the PEC’s March 18, 2026, and April 15, 2026, meetings provide background information given to the Commission for consideration in adjusting the Council Member, City Attorney, and City Auditor salaries per the criteria specified by City Charter Sections 202, 401(1), and 403(1), respectively.
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
As stated above, the proposed action is recommended to update the Salary Schedule of the Salary Ordinance to align it with other actions that have taken place, including with other actions that have taken place at the PEC Meetings on March 13, 2024, and April 10, 2024. In cases in which union involvement was required, the appropriate notification and/or discussions occurred with the applicable unions regarding bargaining unit modifications. Notably, elected officials are not represented by bargaining groups.
Council Member Salary Adjustment – On March 18, 2026, the Oakland Public Ethics Commission passed the attached Resolution No. 26-01 Attachment A to approve a 5% increase to the salary rate for the Council Member classification to raise the annual salary to $114,243.13 ($9,520.26 per month), which will take effect on July 4, 2026. This action is consistent with Section 202 of the City of Oakland Charter that requires a bi-annual adjustment to Council Member salaries that aligns with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) over the preceding two years and to optionally adjust salaries beyond the increase in the CPI up to a total of five percent per year. Staff in the Public Ethics Commission conducted the bi-annual analysis of the Salary Schedule for the Council Member classification and communicated the change to the City Administration for implementation and inclusion in an upcoming salary ordinance amendment prepared by HRM.
In 2022, the Public Ethics Commission was advised by the City Attorney that the increase is automatically applied unless Council Members voluntarily and affirmatively decline the increase.
This determination would have to be made by the Council Members themselves and is separate from the salary amount available to Council Members in the salary ordinance.
City Attorney Salary Adjustment – On April 15, 2026, the PEC passed the attached Resolution No. 26-02 Attachment B to approve an increase to the salary rate for the City Attorney classification to raise the annual salary to $338,290.60, which will take effect on July 4, 2026. Based on the data in the PEC staff report, which relies on the criteria set forth in City Charter Section 401(1), an adjustment from $26,746.57 per month to a salary of $28,190.88 per month was approved by the PEC as it provides equity and alignment of the City Attorney’s compensation by ensuring at least a 15% differential above the highest paid subordinate attorneys and staff in the Office, is comparable to salaries of attorneys in other Bay Area cities, and accounts for the salaries of other City department heads.
Elizabeth Lake, Acting City Administrator
Subject: Salary Ordinance Amendment for Council Member, City Attorney, and City Auditor Date: June 8, 2026 Page 3
Finance and Management Committee
June 23, 2026
City Auditor Salary Adjustment – On April 15, 2026, the PEC passed the attached Resolution No. 26-03 Attachment C to approve an increase to the salary rate for the City Auditor classification to raise the annual salary to $238,849.15, which will take effect on July 4, 2026.
Based on the data in the PEC staff report, which relies on the criteria set forth in City Charter Section 403(1), an adjustment from $18,884.35 per month to a salary of $19,904.10 per month was approved by the PEC as it provides equity and alignment of the City Auditor’s salary by ensuring at least a 15% differential above the highest paid subordinate auditor and staff salaries in the Office, and is comparable to the salaries of auditors in other Bay Area cities.
RELATED PLANNING EFFORTS
This agenda item is a routine item and does not relate to any Oakland strategic planning efforts.
FISCAL IMPACT
The proposed salary increase will result in an additional cost of $123,888 per fiscal year in General Purpose Funds. Mid-year adjustments will be made to the Fiscal Year 2025-2027 Biennial Adopted Budget to ensure that sufficient funds are available.
A breakdown of the appropriated project funding sources is included in Table 1:
Table 1: Project Funding Sources
Fund
Source
Organization Account Project Program Amount
1010 –
General
Purpose
Fund
Multiple Orgs 51XXX -
Personnel
Multiple
Projects
Multiple
Program
$123,888
Total
Project:
$123,888
Total
Ongoing:
$123,888
PUBLIC OUTREACH / INTEREST
No public outreach was deemed necessary other than the required posting on the City’s website.
COORDINATION
Human Resources Management coordinated with the PEC regarding the implementation of the salary changes. Union involvement was unnecessary because the elected official positions are not represented by bargaining groups.
Elizabeth Lake, Acting City Administrator
Subject: Salary Ordinance Amendment for Council Member, City Attorney, and City Auditor Date: June 8, 2026 Page 4
Finance and Management Committee
June 23, 2026
This report and legislation have been reviewed by HRM, City Attorney’s Office, and Finance Department Budget Bureau.
RACE AND EQUITY
Staff did not complete a Racial Equity Impact Analysis on the recommended action, since the necessary salary adjustments are Charter-mandated. Going forward, the data may be reviewed to determine if there are any short- and long-term impacts related to this action.
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt An Ordinance Amending The Salary Schedule Of Ordinance No. 12187 C.M.S. (“Salary Ordinance”) To Amend The Salary For Council Member, City Attorney, and City Auditor In Accordance With The Oakland Public Ethics Commission’s Charter-Mandated Salary Adjustments.
For questions regarding this report, please contact Mary Hao, Director of Human Resources Management, at (510) 238-6450.
Respectfully submitted,
MARY HAO
Director, Human Resources Management
Reviewed by:
Amber Lytle, Human Resources Manager
Recruitment & Classification Division
Prepared by:
Jaime Pritchett, Principal HR Analyst
Recruitment & Classification Division
Attachments (3):
A: PEC Resolution #26-01 and PEC Staff Report Regarding Council Member Salary B: PEC Resolution #26-02 and PEC Staff Report Regarding City Attorney Salary C: PEC Resolution #26-03 and PEC Staff Report Regarding City Auditor Salary Mary Hao (Jun 8, 2026 13:04:54 PDT)