Irvine councilmembers are set to consider whether to nearly quadruple their base salaries from $880 a month to $3,308, which would work out to $39,696 per year for serving on the City Council.

Serving on the council is intended to be part-time work, and most members hold other jobs.

If approved, the governing board would make itself the highest-compensated city council in Orange County, though several Southern California councils receive more than $4,000 a month, including Long Beach, Chula Vista, Escondido, Ontario, Palm Springs, San Bernardino and Riverside, and Los Angeles and San Diego are set at more than $8,000 a month, according to a staff report to the council.

Councilmembers would receive the maximum allowable salary under California law for cities over 250,000 in population where voters have not approved higher compensation.

The change would take effect the next time Irvine seats a new councilmember, which will be after a special election scheduled for April 15 to elect a new District 5 representative to fill the remainder of the term vacated by Larry Agran when he was elected mayor in November.

Last year, Santa Ana councilmembers proposed a ballot measure that, if approved, would have led to them earning $78,000 in annual wages — $6,500 per month. Councilmembers said at the time the elected role is becoming more of a full-time job and that makes it hard for some people to be able to serve their community, so greater compensation would allow more people to step up.

The initiative, Measure FF, failed by a wide margin.

There, councilmembers continue to receive $12,000 per year in base salary.

In Anaheim, Orange County’s largest city with 346,000 residents, councilmembers receive $18,000 per year in base salary.

In many Orange County cities, including Irvine, councilmembers also receive other stipends and benefits.

In Irvine, councilmembers receive an $8,580 annual auto allowance, a small pension and insurance premiums — although some councilmembers opt out of city-sponsored insurance – and there is a meeting stipend for some of the regional boards on which they represent the city.

Irvine councilmembers’ base salaries have not been adjusted since 2009.

“While there have been discussions over the years of increasing compensation levels to correspond with increases in city population, and to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index, those discussions have not ripened into City Council action,” the staff report says.

In 2023, California Senate Bill 239 authorized cities to increase the maximum compensation level paid to councilmembers.

City staff say the new pay proposal is in response to that.

“Given the new state legislation that has been enacted, it is appropriate to consider” an adjustment to council pay, the staff report says.

Councilmembers will have the option to receive a lesser salary or no amount of compensation whatsoever, the staff report says.

Any amount waived by a councilmember would instead be placed in their community partnership grant fund for distribution to qualifying nonprofits.