Stanislaus County supervisors approve pay raise giving them 11% increase
Stanislaus County supervisors are getting a pay increase of 11% over three years because of a policy that gives them the same increases paid to managerial employees.
Tuesday, the board members approved the raises for a group of 590 county employees not represented by unions, including confidential assistants, management employees, department directors and elected officials.
The vote, amounting to a $15,000 increase in the board chairman’s pay over time, was not unanimous. Supervisor Channce Condit was opposed. He explained his opposition in a news release issued Wednesday. The supervisor has expressed concern about a widening gap in compensation between top management and frontline county employees.
“I cannot support increasing salaries for department heads and elected officials while the wage gap between top management and our frontline workers continues to grow significantly,” Condit said in the news release. “County government has become too top-heavy.”
The pay raises approved Tuesday will boost supervisor salaries to $116,150 this year, up from $111,675, with additional 3% increases in 2026 and 2027. The supervisor serving as chairman for the year will be paid $130,000 for performing extra duties, up from $125,100.
By 2027, the chairman will be paid almost $140,000 a year, with the four other supervisors getting $124,400.
According to other supervisors, Stanislaus makes sure its board member salaries are 20% below what’s paid to their counterparts in eight Central Valley counties, some of which have smaller populations. Part of the reason is that the supervisor position has been considered a part-time role in the past.
Today, the daily schedules of most supervisors look more like full-time work and the salaries look like full-time pay.
With his opposition to the pay raise, Condit didn’t seek to clarify the role of county supervisor but emphasized the need for county leaders to show fiscal discipline. “At a time when our residents are being asked to do more with less, government leadership must lead by example,” Condit said in the news release. “This vote reflects my commitment to standing with working families and protecting taxpayers dollars.”
Supervisors Mani Grewal and Terry Withrow, like others who came before them, operate businesses while serving in the role of government decision-makers. Some might question the purpose of giving them an 11% raise, worth thousands of dollars a year.
Grewal said Tuesday he has an arrangement to give his salary increases to charity. Withrow said he’s been OK with the six-figure pay for Stanislaus supervisors in order to support less affluent individuals who aspire to full-time public service.
Condit said being a supervisor is his full-time occupation “but I am still opposed to this.”
A county report estimated the 11% raise for the 590 unrepresented employees will cost $23.6 million over 36 months.
This story was originally published August 7, 2025 at 4:24 PM.
