Costa Mesa City Council to consider pay raises for top city officials

Top Costa Mesa city officials could see boosts in their pay ranging from 2% to almost 16% after Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

The city has not increased the salary ranges for its executive and management positions since 2008, according to a city staff report. And in 2012, those employees volunteered to increase their contributions for their pensions to the California Public Employees’ Retirement System without a salary increase, which effectively resulted in a pay reduction, according to the report.

“The compensation packages for these positions create challenges in recruiting and retaining top talent,” the report states.

The officials known as city executives — city manager, assistant city manager, finance director, information technology director, economic development services director, public services director, fire chief and police chief — are in line for salary increases.

Officials known as division managers — assistant development services director, assistant finance director, building official, city clerk, city engineer, human resources manager, legislative and public affairs manager, maintenance services manager, recreation manager, senior center program administrator and transportation services manager — also are up for raises.

If approved by the council, the raises for executives would range from 2% for the fire chief to 15.88% for the assistant city manager position.

City Manager Tom Hatch’s salary would increase by 9.33%, to about $237,963.

By comparison, Dave Kiff, the city manager in neighboring Newport Beach, earns a base salary of $265,680.

For Costa Mesa’s two current assistant city managers, annual salaries would increase to $213,047 for Tammy Letourneau and $184,040 for Rick Francis.

In Newport Beach, Assistant City Manager Carol Jacobs earns $196,965 annually.

The increases for division managers would range from 2% for the legislative and public affairs manager to 15.76% for the assistant finance director.

This means Assistant Finance Director Colleen O’Donoghue’s annual salary would rise to $158,915.

In Newport Beach, Deputy Finance Director Steve Montano earns $166,148.

Costa Mesa City Clerk Brenda Green’s salary would increase by 14.45%, putting it at $140,292.

Newport Beach’s city clerk, Leilani Brown, earns $145,550 annually.

The proposed pay increases also would mean those employees would pay more of their earnings into the state retirement fund — between 9% and 12%, depending on their retirement plan. They currently pay 7.75% to 10.46%.

Along with the salary increases, the City Council will consider increasing the monthly car allowance for executives from $477 to $575 and issuing a technology allowance of $75 per month.

The council also will consider reducing the amount of vacation time employees can accrue each year from 424 hours to 320 hours and lowering the rate at which employees earn vacation time.

City staff wrote that the proposed salary increases were determined based on City Council direction to adjust the salaries so they are 5% below the average total compensation for similar positions in Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Newport Beach and Santa Ana.

If a position’s salary range is already within the 5%, staff is recommending that the council adjust it so the employee wouldn’t see a pay reduction after contributing more to CalPERS.

If the City Council approves the resolution Tuesday, the issue will be brought back for a second vote at the April 18 meeting.

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