City council seeks a pay raise of up to 125% – which would be among the highest in the nation
Oakland city council is set to consider a charter amendment that would give city councilmembers substantial pay raises as part of a charter reform ballot measure along with other changes.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Oakland Report’s charter reform series is exploring Oakland’s city charter and how it potentially could change — a question that Oakland voters may be asked on the ballot in 2026. This installment is focused on the city council’s consideration of increasing its own pay through the charter reform ballot measure. The next installment will focus on ranked-choice voting and its effects on candidate quality and elections – a topic the Mayor’s Working Group on Charter Reform did not address. See all seven Charter Reform series articles published to date.
Council seeks an up to 125% salary increase
Today, the city council rules and legislative committee is set to propose up to 125% pay raises for themselves through a charter reform ballot measure that would require voter approval.1
Oakland Report readers will remember that City Council recently awarded cash bonuses and “triggered” pay raises to its public employee unions,2 even after they previously awarded unions cumulative 79% raises over ten years, increasing their pay 2.5 times higher than inflation during that same period.3
Those same unions are now campaigning for a new parcel tax on Oakland homes and businesses to extract even more tax revenue from Oaklanders — already among the highest-taxed in the state.4
Meanwhile, the city council has continued to declare a state of “extreme fiscal necessity” for the past two years running, and the city’s finance department has forecast a structural budget shortfall of $115 million to $135 million annually through 2030.5
Councilmembers could receive salary and benefits far above the area median income
The new proposal from the Mayor Barbara Lee’s Working Group on Charter Reform recommends amending the City Charter to make city council positions full-time, prohibit outside employment, and set compensation through a benchmark survey of other “strong-mayor” cities such as Los Angeles and San Diego.
Oakland’s current city council salary is $108,803, and is set to rise to $114,678.34 on July 1, 2026.6
By comparison, the median household income in Oakland is approximately $102,000.7
San Diego pays its council members a salary of $183,545,8 and Los Angeles pays $244,727.9
If the proposed Oakland city councilmember raises are approved by voters in a charter amendment, city councilmembers’ salaries would increase up to 68.7% if matched to San Diego councilmembers’ pay, and up to 124.9% if matched to Los Angeles council pay.
Los Angeles city councilmembers are among the highest-paid municipal lawmakers in the nation.10 This high pay is largely due to a long-standing policy linking their salaries to those of municipal judges, resulting in salaries exceeding peers in cities like New York and San Francisco.
With full-time benefits, councilmember total compensation could exceed $300,000 per year
If voters approve the proposal to designate Oakland city councilmembers as full-time employees, Oakland would pay health premiums up to the Bay Area Kaiser rate ($3,039 per month for family coverage), plus CalPERS pension contributions, insurances, and payroll taxes.11
Including full-time benefits at current costs, Oakland city councilmembers could receive up to $318,145 per year in total compensation, if the charter amendment is set to the Los Angeles benchmark and is approved by voters.
City of Oakland employee benefits are generous, including lifetime defined-benefit pension payouts for members and their beneficiaries
If the charter amendment is approved by voters and city councilmembers become eligible as full-time employees, councilmembers would become eligible to receive the city’s standard benefits package, increasing total compensation substantially.
As of July 2024, the annual base salary for Oakland city councilmembers currently is $108,803, which is higher than the area median income of $102,000.12 Councilmember salary currently is governed by the Public Ethics Commission (PEC), and is adjusted bi-annually based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the preceding two years, with a maximum increase of 5% per year.13
The City of Oakland pays its full-time employees 100% of the monthly premium up to the Bay Area Kaiser rate, which for 2026 is a maximum of $3,039.04 per month for family coverage.14
Additionally as full-time employees, councilmembers would participate in the state retirement system, CalPERS, which offers lifetime defined-benefit pension plans. The city makes substantial employer contributions to its employees’ pension plans, calculated as a percentage of payroll — a long-term financial liability to taxpayers. Employee contribution rates vary by tier, such as 13% for Tier III in the city’s 2026 Benefits Matrix.15
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Additionally, full-time status would entail participation in the city’s life and accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) insurance equal to 100% of the employee’s annual base salary, and access to a voluntary 457(b) deferred compensation plan. The city also pays for vision coverage (maximum monthly family rate of $19.75 for 2026), and short-term and long-term disability plans.
There currently are 12-year term limits for Oakland city councilmembers, which enables incumbents to continue to seek re-election (and thus accumulate more years of service toward their CalPERS pensions) for over a decade – thus increasing the amount of their lifetime monthly retirement payouts.
Prohibition on outside employment could make councilmembers more beholden to special interests and campaign donors
The proposal to substantially increase councilmembers’ pay also seeks to prohibit councilmembers from accepting any other outside employment while in office.
Proponents argue that a full-time council can dedicate more time to legislative duties, policy development, budget analysis, and oversight of city departments.16 These proponents argue that by providing market-aligned compensation, the proposal would eliminate the need for outside employment, directly mitigating conflicts of interest.17
Proponents also claim that higher pay reduces financial barriers to running for office, potentially broadening the candidate pool to include those who are not independently wealthy.18
Conversely, governance scholarship suggests that full-time, highly-paid legislative positions can foster a “professional political class,” increasing incumbency advantages and potentially distancing representatives from constituents.19 The Mayor’s Working Group itself notes that prohibiting outside employment could reduce councilmembers’ direct engagement with professional sectors and community networks.20
Banning outside employment ostensibly mitigates direct conflicts of interest but entails a potential risk: if councilmembers become solely reliant on their city salary and benefits, their financial security becomes directly tied to re-election.21 Research suggests that this dynamic could make them more beholden to special interests and campaign donors.
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Studies of U.S. state legislatures found that pay increases were associated with legislators spending more time on fundraising and constituent services, rather than direct lawmaking. As the financial stakes of holding office rise, so does the effort required to secure the campaign funding necessary to retain it.22
Designating councilmembers as full-time employees also raises the question as to whether they would then seek additional paid staff support on the assumption – not stated in the charter reform amendment – that council members would then have more time to focus on council work and thus desire more paid staff to help them carry out that extra work. For example, San Diego individual council district offices have staffing levels ranging from 15.00 to 17.50 Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs).
Fiscal impact to Oakland taxpayers
If the charter reform is approved and salaries are benchmarked to other large cities, the total annual employer cost per Oakland councilmember will increase significantly. Assuming an 8-member council, the total fiscal impact varies based on the chosen benchmark:
Other elements of the proposed charter reform amendment
Oakland Report has extensively covered the other elements of the proposed charter amendment through our Charter Reform series. The three main components of the Mayor’s Working Group’s proposal are:
Build Legislative Capacity: Create permanent Legislative & Budget Analyst office to provide analysis of budgets, fiscal impacts, policy interactions, and staffing implications and give the Council enhanced oversight authority.
Return the Council to an odd number to prevent ties: Phase out the at-large seat to create a seven-member council, an odd number that eliminates the need for mayoral tie-breaking and thereby maintains clear separation between legislative and executive functions.
Clarify the Role and Compensation of the City Council: Full-time service is generally assumed to clarify this, and align salaries and rules on outside employment accordingly.
— from Mayor’s Working Group on Charter Reform proposal
Why are councilmember pay raises included in the charter reform proposal?
Taken in the context of Oakland’s long history of corruption, for example the recent indictment of former Mayor Sheng Thao on federal corruption charges, the proposal to increase councilmembers’ compensation raises a number of ethical questions:
If city councilmembers’ livelihoods depend on re-election, does that incentivize them to be even more susceptible to influence by special interests that can help them keep their lucrative jobs and accrue more benefits, not to mention the political powers of their office?
How will the prohibition against outside employment be monitored and enforced? What if they take outside work anyway – who would take the action to enforce violations? If councilmembers break the rule, would Oaklanders just have to wait until the next election, or try to mount an expensive recall campaign? Would their council pay be suspended? Would city councilmembers take action against their council colleagues? Or would literally nothing happen?
Is giving councilmembers substantial pay raises really just a political play to prevent the councilmembers from actively opposing the charter reform proposal’s key element of giving the mayor more power and the city council less power, by promising the councilmembers a big financial payday?
City of Oakland. “Informational Report On Charter Reform Recommendations.” Rules and legislation committee meeting agenda, Mar. 26, 2026, agenda item #5. https://oakland.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=7945931&GUID=9F46E630-D2DC-4D61-8F09-59FF821FBCB8&Options=&Search=
Reinhart, Sean S. “44% of Oakland’s proposed $34 million tax increase would go to union payouts.” Oakland Report, Feb. 22, 2026. https://www.oaklandreport.org/p/20260222-parcel-tax-union-payout
Ubell, Michael and Tim Gardner. “Oakland employee compensation grew 2.5 times faster than inflation, far outpacing other cities.” Oakland Report, Jul. 9, 2024. https://www.oaklandreport.org/p/oakland-employee-compensation-grew
Oakland Report contributors. “New taxes: Oakland public employee unions collecting signatures for a new parcel tax.” Oakland Report, Feb. 3, 2026. https://www.oaklandreport.org/p/2026203-new-taxes-oakland-public-employee
Reinhart, Sean S. “Oakland set to declare “extreme fiscal necessity” again, coordinate with unions to increase property taxes.” Oakland Report, Feb. 10, 2026. https://www.oaklandreport.org/p/20260210-oakland-declare-extreme-fiscal-necessity
City of Oakland. “Oakland city council salary adjustment.” Public Ethics Commission meeting agenda, Mar. 18, 2026, agenda item #5. https://www.oaklandca.gov/files/assets/city/v/1/public-meetings/public-ethics-commission/2026/03-18-2026-pec-regular-meeting-agenda.pdf
Census Reporter. “Oakland, California profile data.” Accessed Mar. 26, 2026. https://censusreporter.org/profiles/16000US0653000-oakland-ca/
City of San Diego. “Ordinance No. 21956.” May 13, 2025. https://docs.sandiego.gov/council_reso_ordinance/rao2025/O-21956.pdf
Mejia, Kenneth. “Los Angeles city officials pay rate.” Los Angeles City Controller’s Office, accessed Mar. 26, 2026. https://controllerdata.lacity.org/stories/s/City-Elected-Officials-Pay-Rate/t9w5-r8bn/
Public CEO contributors. “L.A. City Council earns highest salary in nation: Is the system giving too much?” Public CEO, Accessed Mar. 26, 2026. https://www.publicceo.com/2009/04/los-angeles-city-council-earn-highest-salary-in-nation-is-the-system-giving-too-much
City of Oakland. “Summary of benefits, year 2026.” Accessed Mar. 26, 2026. https://www.oaklandca.gov/files/assets/city/v/1/human-resources/documents/working-for-oakland/employee-benefits/benefit-documents/2026-benefits-matrix.pd
City of Oakland. “City council salaries.” Accessed Mar. 26, 2026. https://www.oaklandca.gov/Government/Boards-Commissions/Public-Ethics-Commission/Open-Government/City-Council-Salaries
Heidorn, Nicholas. “City council salary adjustment as required by law for the March 13, 2024, PEC meeting.” Public Ethics Commission, Feb. 28, 2024. https://cao-94612.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/documents/10-Memo-Reso-City-Council-Salary-Adjustment-with-headers.pdf
Ibid. City of Oakland - Summary of Benefits.
City of Oakland. “Employee benefits.” Accessed Mar. 26, 2026. https://www.oaklandca.gov/Government/Working-for-Oakland/Employee-Benefits
Neditch, Nicole. “Path to better governance: Oakland Mayor’s Working Group releases recommendations for Charter Reform.” SPUR, Jan. 30, 2026. https://www.spur.org/news/2026-01-30/path-better-governance-oakland-mayors-working-group-releases-recommendations
Lee, Barbara. “Strengthening government accountability through charter reform” Oakland Report, Feb. 21, 2026. https://www.oaklandreport.org/p/20260221-mayor-charter-reform
Ibid. SPUR.
Mayor’s Working Group on Charter Reform contributors. “Strengthening Oakland’s governance structure.” Jan. 29, 2026. https://www.oaklandreport.org/api/v1/file/31d2259a-78b6-47d7-b4a8-a6d9c61781c6.pdf
Ibid. Mayor’s Working Group.
Hoffman, Mitchell and Elizabeth Lyons. “Do higher salaries lead to higher performance? Evidence from state politicians.” University of California, San Diego, Jul, 2, 2014. https://gps.ucsd.edu/_files/faculty/lyons/lyons_research_07022014.pdf
Ibid. Hoffman and Lyons.
Correction: The original version of this article erroneously stated that there currently are no term limits for Oakland city councilmembers. The article has been corrected to reflect that city councilmembers currently have 12-year term limits.
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This consistent level of City Council insanity should not be exploited for political gain. We working people of Oakland need fewer politics & a lot more simple competency.
Alex thank you for writing this. I feel the biggest challenge, "no one cares". You put it in your article that the incentive is to keep your job. The people of Oakland need someone, or a group of people, who aren't afraid to "get fired". I'm all for paying people a lot of money if there is a correlation of pay to success metrics. For example, we reduce potholes by x% which increased lawsuits by y%. It's a tricky situation, but I feel the entire council, especially mine, are in it for themselves.