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Fresno City Council Cuts Its Huge Pay Raise by Nearly Half
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By David Taub, Senior Reporter
Published 3 years ago on
June 30, 2022

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Pumping the brakes on a 69% pay raise, the Fresno City Council opted for a more modest pay bump. Instead of receiving a $55,000 raise all at once, the city council instead will receive smaller amounts paid incrementally throughout the next three years.

Citing public feedback, the three city councilmembers who made the initial proposal worked with Mayor Jerry Dyer on a new salary system.

City Councilman Luis Chavez introduced amendments — councilmembers beginning new terms will earn $92,000 starting this January; $101,200 in January 2024; and $111,320 in January 2025.

That means by 2025, all city council members will receive a 39% raise from the current amount.

The new proposal passed by a 5-2 vote — the same count as the previous raise proposal received on June 23  — with Garry Bredefeld and Esmeralda Soria voting no.

The council president will receive 12.5% more than the other six councilmembers. The mayor’s compensation will be $149,500 in 2023, $164,450 in 2024, and $180,895 in 2025.

Dyer wanted the amount capped at the 2023 amount. Members of the city council kept the original plan, suggesting a future mayor can voluntarily not accept the raise.

Despite the 2023-2025 raises, Dyer would only benefit if he wins a new term in 2024. He is currently paid $130,000.

The original plan was to raise council salaries from $80,000 to $135,044, the same amount a Fresno County Supervisor earns in base salary. When a supervisor’s salary rises — it is tied to 60% of what a state judge earns — the council rate would have increased as well under the old proposal.

Listening to the People

Councilman Tyler Maxwell, who along with Chavez and Mike Karbassi, co-sponsored the pay raise legislation, said his constituents were not on board with the amount.

“The messaging was, hey, we understand that, you know, council is probably due for a raise, but we do not agree or respect the proposal,” Maxwell said.

Karbassi acknowledged the original plan was a mistake.

“When we rolled out this program, we probably … it wasn’t as well thought out as it should have been. And I’m fortunate to have an electorate that is very well-spoken and they have access to me and they’ve let me know how they feel,” Karbassi said. “And they wanted something that was just more sensitive to the economy where we were, something was a lot more reasonable.”

Councilman Miguel Arias said councilmembers work harder than Fresno County Supervisors in areas such as budget deliberation, meeting with the public, and demand for services.

Bredefeld responded by agreeing with Arias that the city council works hard. He repeated his same objections made last week, that holding public office is about service and sacrifice. He said that the supervisor system for salaries is a “scam.”

City Council President Nelson Esparza said he was “a bit surprised” by the public feedback. He said a plan to compare it to other cities instead of the Board of Supervisors is fair.

The Fresno City Council is scheduled for a vote for adoption of the pay raise on July 21.

Where Fresno City Council Pay Ranks in California

Fresno’s current rate of pay ranks seventh among the ten most populous cities in the state and will remain that way with the amended salary schedule, at least through 2023.

Perhaps the fairest comparison based on population and the overall budget is Sacramento. A commission established by the city charter sets the pay. It is currently at $98,045 for the city council and $158,652 for the mayor.

Fresno is the only city in the top-ten most populous that can directly set its salaries.

The original proposal would have made the city council the third-highest compensated, behind Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Note: the Fresno salaries are current. The city of Clovis council salary goes into effect starting with the November 2022 election.

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David Taub,
Senior Reporter
Curiosity drives David Taub. The award-winning journalist might be shy, but feels mighty with a recorder in his hand. He doesn't see it his job to "hold public officials accountable," but does see it to provide readers (and voters) the information needed to make intelligent choices. Taub has been honored with several writing awards from the California News Publishers Association. He's just happy to have his stories read. Joining GV Wire in 2016, Taub covers politics, government and elections, mainly in the Fresno/Clovis area. He also writes columns about local eateries (Appetite for Fresno), pro wrestling (Off the Bottom Rope), and media (Media Man). Prior to joining the online news source, Taub worked as a radio producer for KMJ and PowerTalk 96.7 in Fresno. He also worked as an assignment editor for KCOY-TV in Santa Maria, California, and KSEE-TV in Fresno. He has also worked behind the scenes for several sports broadcasts, including the NCAA basketball tournament, and the Super Bowl. When not spending time with his family, Taub loves to officially score Fresno Grizzlies games. Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, Taub is a die-hard Giants and 49ers fan. He graduated from the University of Michigan with dual degrees in communications and political science. Go Blue! You can contact David at 559-492-4037 or at Send an Email

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