Petaluma City Council Salaries Lower Than Recommended by State

Petaluma City Council members get an average of $8,131 a year for their work, according to an investigation of council salaries by the Los Angeles Times released Tuesday.

The salaries are much lower than the $20,318 recommended by the state, a trend in many California cities, according to the analysis. The figures are based on 2009 salary information from the State Controller's Office. 

The investigation comes on the heels of the corruption in Bell, Calif. where council members took home up to $100,000 a year, while the City Manager made more than $1 million. Eight people were arrested.

Since Petaluma is a charter city, council salaries are set by the charter, which was last amended in 1972. According to the charter, council members get $5 per meeting, while the mayor gets $10. But the healthcare benefit is significantly higher, with a typical council member (married but has no dependents), collecting around $500 a month in cash.

Other Sonoma County cities fared about the same as Petaluma, all paying their councils less than required by the state, according to the survey. In Sonoma, city council members received an average of $6,080 a year, while Rohnert Park averaged $10,948.

However, in Napa, council members in 2009 were paying themselves an average of $47,700 a year, more than twice the amount recommended by the state, according to the investigation.