Clerk presents Board budget guidelines; committee discusses staffing and premium pay

Angela Calvio, Clerk of the Board, presented the Board of Supervisors’ draft budget guidelines to the Budget and Finance Committee on Dec. 16, reviewing a six-slide summary of expenditures and key items for the coming two-year budget cycle.

Calvio said staffing accounts for the largest portion of the department’s budget and that the city’s shift to a rolling two-year budget is reflected in the department plan. She highlighted workload issues in the Assessment Appeals Board and noted a funded evening clerk position intended to clear a backlog; that temporary funding is expected to end once the backlog resolves. Calvio proposed requests that will increase the department’s budget modestly, including upward job-classification changes (with an estimated $44,000 increase in salaries and benefits), a $14,000 file-server purchase and $24,000 for continued online system maintenance, and consideration of a cost-of-living (COLA) recommendation the committee may discuss in January.

Calvio also proposed funding bilingual premium pay and legislative assistant premium pay tied to union MOU provisions, explaining that some legislative aides regularly provide services in languages other than English and may be eligible for premium pay. Committee members asked clarifying questions about how premium pay would be administered and funded; Calvio said the department requested the funding for the first time this year and will include the proposal in the draft budget to be presented in January. Members thanked longtime clerk’s office staff (including Victor Young) for service, and the committee continued Item 13 with no opposition.