Costa Mesa approves $6.8M in pay raises, benefit hikes for city hall workers, police
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Costa Mesa employees have a little something extra to celebrate this Labor Day weekend, as city officials signed off Tuesday on more than $6.8 million in pay raises, benefits and job reclassifications in this fiscal year and next.
Councilmembers unanimously approved memos of understanding with labor groups representing city hall workers as well as officers and law enforcement management working in the Costa Mesa Police Department.
Intended to help recruit and retain top-level talent, the adjustments will add an estimated $3.7 million to next year’s payroll, according to staff estimates. But the pay raises will also tack on an additional $3.1 million to the city’s current fiscal year budget adopted in June.
This year’s $200-million general fund — which came in roughly $13 million higher than what was budgeted in 2025-26 — was the result of a delicate balancing act achieved through interdepartmental cuts, the freezing of more than a dozen city hall vacancies and the promise of powerhouse sales tax receipts at a time when other cities are experiencing revenue slumps.
Under the series of two-year agreements approved Tuesday, 292 members of the Costa Mesa City Employees Assn. (CMCEA) will receive two 3% raises, one retroactive to July 1 of this year and a second on July 1, 2027. The city has also agreed to pay an additional $200 per month in health contributions on Jan. 1, 2027, then again exactly one year later, bringing the total monthly benefit amount to $2,200.
Other contract items negotiated for the period ranging from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2028 pertain to increased sick leave accrual, higher holiday pay rollover totals and bumps in pay for certain positions to make them in keeping with current market rates. All told, CMCEA gains this year total $1.46 million.
Officials learned Tuesday the city is on track to bring in $7 million more in revenue by June 30 than forecast. But that’s exactly how much is needed to keep up with a rash of unbudgeted spending, mainly by CMPD.
Officers represented by the Costa Mesa Police Assn. — a group comprising 131 employees — will receive four 2% pay raises over the next two years, or a collective 8.24% throughout the two-year contract period — along with one $200 monthly increase in health benefits contributions for a monthly total of $2,619.
The city has also agreed to increase pay for bilingual officers and other compensation for court appearances, morning patrol shifts and those whose schedules feature progressive shift changes.
Another nine employees represented by the Costa Mesa Police Management Assn. will get the same 8.24% raises and health contribution hikes as officers, along with other increases due to position and step restructuring within the department.
The pay increases for those two groups of CMPD employees total nearly $1.2 million. This comes after the department filled all its vacancies last fiscal year, making its expenses roughly 17% higher than what was budgeted for 2025-26.
Councilmember Loren Gameros made the motion Tuesday to approve the increases, saying a lot of time was spent back and forth during negotiations to reach a mutually agreeable conclusion.
“In the end, I feel that it was a great negotiation on both sides,” he said. “I’m proud of what we’ve done and I hope the workers on their side are too.”
Mayor John Stephens thanked negotiating team members on both sides, including acting lead negotiator City Manager Cecilia Gallardo-Daly, calling the timing of the vote just ahead of Labor Day weekend “ impeccable.”
“All of these people represented by these organizations, these associations, are amazing workers,” he said. “And Labor Day, or any day, I’m very grateful for their work. I’m glad we’re going out on a peaceful note — it’s wonderful to have labor peace in the great city of Costa Mesa.”
