Sac Metro Air District highlights new board pay limits and teleconference rules under recent state laws

Megan Shepherd, the district’s director of administrative services, briefed the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District board on March 27, 2025, about recent state law changes that increase board compensation and clarify teleconferencing rules.

Shepherd said the per‑meeting rate the board has received for years — $100 per meeting with a $12,000 annual cap — has been doubled under recent legislation to $200 per meeting and an increased annual cap (the presentation referenced a change to a $24,000 cap and a new monthly cap range). "We haven't changed the board compensation in many, many years. It's been sitting at $100 per meeting, per day, for many years," Shepherd told the board, adding the update is intended to help retention and recruitment by reflecting higher workload and inflation.

Shepherd also described new teleconferencing provisions, noting two separate legislative changes discussed in her presentation. One measure (identified in the presentation as AB 2302) requires board members who teleconference to disclose and post their location in advance and limits the number of teleconferenced meetings each member can use under ordinary circumstances. A separate provision the presentation identified as allowing "just cause" or emergency remote participation (referred to in the presentation as "02/1949") permits a board member to withhold location information for specified private reasons such as illness or caregiving; that option, Shepherd said, still requires board approval of the just cause claim.

Chair Chirkin Aquino sought confirmation about how the two policies operate in practice. "If, for example, I still wanted to zoom in from Folsom City Hall, that requires advance notice, it would be published on the agenda... But if I had a special circumstance where I was ill or I needed to care for a sick child, that can be done on an emergency basis," Aquino said. Shepherd agreed, calling the second category "just cause" and saying it does not require public posting of location when approved by the board.

The presentation noted the district included projected costs from the compensation increase in its current fiscal‑year and FY 2025–26 budget and said the change to board pay will be funded at the state level. Shepherd also encouraged board members to request district orientation visits for background on district programs.

The board received the item as an informational file; no vote or other formal action was taken on the report.