SACRAMENTO COUNTY, Calif. — Starting next month, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors will see a significant pay raise.
On Tuesday, members voted to go from being paid about $127,000 to about $173,000. The county said it was a long time coming, but some in the community are not happy with the raise.
"I'm a former civil service, California state employee who are, I'm thinking, primary citizens of Sacramento who don't make anywhere near that," said a Sacramento County resident.
Some people who spoke with ABC10 felt the raise was too high.
However, according to the county, salary levels for the board have not been reviewed for market comparability since 1991.
"There was no data indicating that a study had been conducted on the compensations on the Board of Supervisors for almost 32 years. So, it's been a long time since any sort of study has been done to sort of address the issue of compensational equity as it relates to the board of supervisors," said Sylvester Fadal, director of the Department of Personnel Services.
The county, therefore, hired a consultant to do a study.
Vice President Doug Johnson described it as a comprehensive review of comparable counties, including San Francisco and Alameda Count. He said it was meant to look at the salary benefit practices in the marketplace and what the salary setting mechanisms were.
"It really was just a data-informed view," said Doug Johnson, vice president of Ralph Andersen and Associates.
However, some people feel the money could be going to a bigger problem.
"Have you driven our streets? Yes, the potholes and things like that going on. Just look at the homeless issues," said Ed Ryan, a Sacramento County resident.
The county believes the increase will be a benefit down the road
"It might arguably excite more people to be interested in running for public office," said Fadal.
The current increase will take effect on June 4 this year.
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