The OC Board of Supervisors approved the county’s $10 billion budget for the next fiscal year on Tuesday, June 24, finalizing the spending plan for county operations, including pay raises for several executive positions and the supervisors themselves.
The county is required to adopt a balanced spending plan before the new fiscal year begins next month. Officials say the new budget will keep similar service levels seen this past year.
The budget approves funding for nearly 19,000 positions, but just over 17,000 are currently filled. The county’s budget covers a variety of social services, the county’s landfills, the regional parks, the OC Sheriff’s Department, public works and more.
Notable pay bumps were also approved Tuesday for each of the elected supervisors, for newly confirmed CEO Michelle Aguirre and for County Counsel Leon Page.
Supervisors on Tuesday approved making their pay commensurate with what state superior court judges make, which is currently $244,000 annually. Until now, supervisors’ annual pay was set at 80% of what the superior court judges made.
Last year, county supervisors made around $195,000 a year in base pay, according to the state controller’s database.
Judges’ pay is set by state law and they receive regular annual pay increases.
Supervisor Don Wagner offered a defense of the pay raises for supervisors, saying, “We’ve seen an effort throughout this agenda essentially to right-size executive pay throughout the county.”
“We are being raised only to be equal to the judges in the Orange County Superior Court,” Wagner said. “There’s no gaming the system by us and it is also fair. I think everyone on the board recognizes the work this board does is broader and we have more roles and more responsibilities than even those superior court judges, with respect to all of them who do in fact work quite hard.”
Fifth District Supervisor Katrina Foley was the only vote against the pay bump. None of the other supervisors spoke about the pay raises during the meeting.
The pay raise will bring supervisor pay closer to what their counterparts in neighboring counties make.
Los Angeles County supervisors earn $244,000 a year before benefits; San Diego County supervisors make just under $220,000 per year; and Riverside County supervisors receive $226,000 annually.
Other county executive positions also received raises.
Aguirre, who has been serving as the interim CEO since September, was officially appointed to the top exec job by the board on June 10. Former CEO Frank Kim retired in July 2024.
Her new employment agreement was approved Tuesday, and her annual salary was set at $460,000. She is expected to see an estimated total compensation of $702,000 with benefits. The position’s base pay last year was $343,000.
Aguirre’s new contract and appointment are retroactive to June 10 and is for a one-year term.
County Counsel Leon Page will now earn $362,000 a year, after making $310,000 in regular pay for 2024. The county’s top civil attorney received a three-year contract.
Newly appointed Public Defender Sara Nakada will make $333,070 after supervisors tapped her for the position this month following the retirement of Martin Schwarz. Nakada will lead the office of public defenders that represent people who cannot afford an attorney when they are charged with a crime.
Nakada will make about the same as her predecessor.
A pay raise was also set to be considered for Sheriff Don Barnes, but the county CEO’s office pulled the item, according to a spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Department.
A spokesperson for the county said the item was pulled for further review and may come back at a later date.
Barnes was last given a pay raise in 2022, setting his salary at $289,248.
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