Health benefits boost board compensation
By Brad Branan, Sacramento Bee
Most people elected to special district boards receive no compensation to oversee the agencies that provide services such as water or local park maintenance.
But some district directors receive annual salaries approaching $20,000 and health benefits for a position that has few requirements besides preparing for and attending meetings.
Of the nearly 1,000 special district board members in the capital region, about 70 percent received no compensation, the Sacramento Bee found in an analysis of 2013 salary data recently released by the California State Controller’s Office.
The other 30 percent, however, received an average of $4,300 in total compensation. All of the two dozen directors who received the most compensation – $15,000 or more – served districts in the Sierra foothills or around Lake Tahoe, in particular water districts with a long history of providing health coverage to board members and their immediate family members.
The South Tahoe Public Utility District had four of the five highest-paid board members in the region in 2013. They each received $4,800 in wages, but the biggest expense came from health care costs, an average of $21,585 each.