ITEM:            PUBLIC HEARINGS

 

16.       CONSIDER FIRST READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 113 – INCREASE BOARD COMPENSATION

 

Meeting Date:           March 15, 2004                                  Budgeted: No

Program/Line Item No.: Services &

Staff Contact:             Rick Dickhaut                                    Supplies – Board Member Comp.

Cost Estimate:  $30,000 Year

General Counsel Approval: Yes

Committee Recommendation: The Administrative Committee reviewed this item on March 10, 2004 and recommended approval.

CEQA Compliance: N/A

 


Additional information presented at Board meeting

 

SUMMARY:  The District’s Board Members have been compensated at the rate of $30 per Board meeting since 1978.  Board Members have not been compensated for committee and other types of meetings they are required to attend.  Current law governing the amount Board Members can be paid allow compensation to be set at $100 per day for all meetings attended and for each day’s service rendered as a member of the Board by the request of the Board.  The compensation amount can be increased each subsequent calendar year by 5% but would require an ordinance to implement any such change.  Exhibit 16-A is a letter from the General Counsel David Laredo regarding this subject.  District staff has surveyed local cities and other local government agencies to determine compensation being paid to Board Members at those agencies.  Exhibit 16-B is a matrix presenting the results of that survey.  Exhibit 16-C is a draft of Ordinance No. 113, which would increase Board compensation from $30 to $100 per day effective on the 61st day after it is enacted on second reading. 

 

RECOMMENDATION:  The Board should accept public comment, and then approve the first reading of Ordinance No. 113 – An Ordinance of the Board of Directors of the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District Setting Compensation for Board Members.  The second reading of the ordinance should be scheduled for the April 19, 2004 Board meeting.  The Administrative Committee reviewed this item on March 10, 2004 and recommended approval on a vote of 2 to 0.

 

IMPACT ON STAFF RESOURCES:  The current year’s budget includes $12,000 for Board member compensation.  If approved, the increased compensation will not take effect until late June and will have virtually no effect on the current budget.  The budget for Fiscal Year 2004-2005 would include additional funds to cover the increased compensation.  It is estimated that this increase would cost approximately $30,000 per year.

 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: The Board of Directors are presently compensated solely for Board meeting attendance, pursuant to Water Code Appendix Section 118-206, at the rate of $30 per meeting, to a maximum of three meetings per month.  This level of compensation has not changed since it took effect in 1978.  The law governing Water Management District Board Member compensation is now set by Water Code Section 20200, et seq.  These provisions of the Water Code were made applicable to the District in 1988, superseding prior law on this topic.  Water Code Section 20201 allows Board Member compensation to be at $100 per day for each day’s attendance at meetings of the Board, or for each day’s service rendered as a member of the Board by the request of the Board.  Director compensation cannot be paid for more than ten calendar days in any month.  An ordinance needs to be adopted by the District pursuant to the Water Code to invoke these compensation provisions for Board Members.

 

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