Supervisors OK Their Second Pay Raise of the Year

Orange County supervisors Tuesday formally adopted their second salary increase this year.

The action, taken on a unanimous vote, makes the most recent 6.25% increase official. The raise was informally approved June 28 in a 4-0 vote. Board Chairman Harriett M. Wieder was absent at that time.

The increase is to be given in two increments, one retroactive to July 1 and one to take effect in December. The raise will increase the supervisors’ annual salaries from the current $61,880 to $65,873.

The supervisors last gave themselves a raise in January, when they increased their annual salaries by 5.16%.

The vote also formally approved 6.25%, across-the-board raises for 22 department heads at a time when county officials are predicting a $44-million budget shortfall and layoffs. As many as 400 jobs may have to eliminated to help make up the difference between expected expenditures and expected revenue, officials have said.

Supervisors and other county officials have defended the raises, saying the county’s general work force received proportionate wage increases through collective bargaining.

The increases are conservative compared to previous ones, they said, adding that the county must pay high salaries to attract good executives.

In May, 1985, the county grand jury recommended that the supervisors raise their salaries to $75,000 by 1991 in order to attract a broader range of candidates for the offices.