Sutter County supervisors poised for $20K raise. Are they still underpaid?

The top elected officials in Sutter County are moving toward giving themselves a $20,000 raise, but even with that their annual pay would still be among the lowest for county supervisors in California.

The county is already facing a budget crunch and hiring freezes, worsened by inflation and failed penny taxes — one from the county and one from Yuba City — in back-to back-elections. But proponents argue that the higher pay is overdue and would allow more community members, aside from retirees and those with individual wealth, to run for office.

Supervisors on Tuesday voted 4-1 to draft an ordinance that would adjust their salaries for the first time since 2004, raising their pay from roughly $34,500 to about $54,500, based on a recommendation from the county’s most recent grand jury report.

Attract more candidates

Including benefits, the raise would cost about $23,000 for each of the five supervisors, according to a county report. The ordinance requires two readings before becoming official.

“If we don’t make those adjustments we get so far behind that the correction seems outrageous, but the correction should have happened a long time ago,” said John Nicoletti, former Yuba County supervisor.

Besides increasing supervisor pay, the more liveable salary could attract a wider swath of the community to run for the board. The current pay precludes many who need to work full-time outside of the elected role, which itself, officials say, requires a full-time commitment.

“I do not believe that you should have to be a wealthy individual, a manager or retired to do this position,” said Supervisor Mike Ziegenmeyer. “If I didn’t have my other job I couldn’t do this position, it would be impossible.”

As it stands, Sutter County’s five-person board earns below average when compared to similar counties, said Steve Smith, county administrator. With the suggested raise, Sutter County’s would still be paid less than neighboring supervisors.

Low compared to others

Of the similar counties the grand jury chose for comparison, all but Tehama County had significantly higher pay for its supervisors. For comparison, supervisors in neighboring Yuba County are paid almost $86,500 annually, which includes about $1,700 a month for being Yuba Water Agency board members.

Smith also recommended tying cost of living adjustments granted to Superior Court judges to supervisor salaries, which would ensure steady raises without requiring the board to have to decide on its own pay again.

“This is a common practice amongst counties for the supervisor position,” he said.

The grand jury members who recommended the raise acknowledged the political consequences that supervisors face as the ones tasked with approving their own raises, which one newly elected supervisor also noted.

“I can’t believe that I would be voting on my own raise,” said Supervisor Jeff Stephens. “That is not correct, that is not right. We need to come up with a better system than that.”

The grand jury gave an alternative suggestion of approving a raise but setting it to take effect after the next election, which Stephens also floated.

“We have a lot of hard problems that we’re going to have to face in the coming months and years,” Stephens said. “… And for us to say that we’re going to increase our wages while we’re telling others that they’re going to have to take cuts or close certain things … that to me is not right, especially when we knew what we were going to be signed up for.”

This story was originally published February 14, 2025 at 7:00 AM.