How Much Do Councilmembers Make?

Under a state guideline, total compensation for Milpitas city councilmembers is $20,318, but the average pay is $26,363. That's according to 2009 data analyzed by the LA Times. 

The same guideline for Mountain View (a charter city, not general law city, with a population similar to Milpitas) is $24,382, but their average total pay is $12,541.

Milpitas is a general law city. "Cities without a charter have maximum council salaries set by a formula based on their 1984 population with a 5% annual increase," according to the article.

City council salaries and benefits have always been available through a public records request. And they became searchable online through a database earlier this year.

The numbers and columns can be confusing, so the mayor asked the city's human resources director to explain each column in the name of transparency at the last city council meeting.

Here is the data for calendar year 2010 (amounts for Esteves are smaller than the others because he came back to the Milpitas City Council after being reelected in the fall):

Base salary - In 2011, the city projects each member of the city council will receive about $860/month, while the Mayor would receive $1076/month, according to Carmen Valdez, the city's human resources director.

The base salary does not include any stipends from various boards, she said.

According to the LA Times, city council base salaries (for general law cities in California) are legal within the $3,600 to $12,000/year range, depending on size of the city's population. City councils are allowed to raise their base salaries 5 percent a year.

Other pay - Includes the 7 percent reduction from the recent budget cut. Phone allowance, car allowance, RDA meetings (councilmembers also sit on the city's redevelopment agency board). In addition, there is an optional $125/month for those who do not use the city's health insurance.

Gross pay - Base salary and other salary added together.

Employer pension contribution to CALPERS or CALPARS - PARS is the Public Agency Retirement System. And it is an alternate retirement system for part-time seasonal and temporary employees ineligible to participate in CALPERS, according to Valdez.

The city does not make any retirement contributions (PARS, PERS, SS) for any individual and city council members rehired after retiring under CALPERS and hired back part-time.

If a councilmember or employee is already part of CALPERS when they come on board with the city, they are entered into PARS. 

Temp employees who work under 1,000 hours are entered into PARS. If they go over, 1,000 hours they would be entered into PERS, according to Valdez.

Employer-paid employee 8% PERS contribution - Eight percent of the councilmembers' gross pay is paid by the city, but currently two councilmembers receive this benefit. This benefit only goes to city councilmembers and was approved in 2008. That is the only change to the benefits for this current council. Everything else has stayed the same.

Medical including vision and dental - Each councilmember is entitled to the same set of medical benefits that city employees receive. The city premiums for Kaiser are as follows: $568 premium for a single person; $1,137 for a single person plus one; $1,479 for a family. The maximum the city will cover is the Kaiser family premium. 

$1,479/month comes out to $17,748 in a year.

Councilmember medical benefit costs will vary based on what medical procedures were done, something which is private.

A councilmember who does not use the city's medical insurance can receive $125/month. That amount would show up in the "other pay" column.