Pay Raises Sought for County Managers

Ventura County officials will be asked today to authorize pay raises for about 750 county managers spread throughout 25 agencies and departments.

The Board of Supervisors will consider giving a 3% cost-of-living adjustment to managers and independent elected officials effective June 2, and a 5% step increase in March, 1997.

The board is also being asked to contribute more money toward medical and dental insurance policies for management employees.

“The county’s 750 managers have not had a pay increase since 1992, and we feel it is time to consider changes in compensation if we are to keep pace with inflation,” Supervisor Frank Schillo said.

The pay hikes would not apply to supervisors, since their pay is tied to Superior Court judges’ salaries under a 1993 county ordinance.

The request for salary adjustments comes at a time when the county has given tentative approval to a contract granting county employees a 2.5% raise for the current fiscal year. But it comes months before budget negotiations for fiscal year 1996-97.

Last week, supervisors ordered departments to plan ways to cut their general fund budgets by 25% in anticipation of a $17.9-million spending gap.

Public safety departments will not be included in that process, since a county law passed last year prohibits supervisors from reducing those budgets.

“We recognize that giving managers a pay increase will increase the budget and will require cuts elsewhere in the system,” Chief Administrator Lin Koester said. “But we feel that these managers are key to achieving ultimate success in our budget-balancing efforts.”