SAN DIEGO — At least two San Diego council members want to give back future pay raises to help solve a budget crisis, but City Attorney Heather Ferbert says a city law explicitly allowing them to do that is nullified by the city charter.

Council members haven’t had the power to vote for or against their own pay raises since a 2018 ballot measure that tied their compensation — including any raises — directly to the salaries of state Superior Court judges.

Their annual salaries were hiked from $182,955 to $183,545 last December and are expected to be increased again later this year when Superior Court judges get their annual pay bump.

The goal of the ballot measure was allowing council members to get pay raises without the awkwardness and controversy of voting for those raises themselves.

Supporters say the pay increases under the measure have significantly boosted the quality of candidates seeking office because the salaries are high enough to attract lawyers, doctors and other professionals.

The ballot measure also tied the salaries of the mayor and city attorney to Superior Court judges, but they get equal pay to the judges while council members only get 75% of the judicial salaries. Annual pay for the mayor and city attorney rose from $243,940 to $244,727 in December.

The city’s gaping budget deficit this spring, which has been estimated at anywhere between $258 million and $353 million, has prompted some to suggest the mayor and council members should agree to reject any raises.

Mayor Todd Gloria has been firm that he wants to stick with what the voters approved, noting that he took over the expansive duties of former Chief Operating Officer Eric Dargan in February when Dargan was laid off.

“The mayor’s salary will remain consistent with the voter-approved salary setting formula, even as his workload expanded significantly with the assumption of the former chief operating officer’s duties,” said Rachel Laing, the mayor’s communications director. “By assuming this additional executive role, Mayor Gloria relieved the taxpayers of hundreds of thousands of dollars in salary and benefit costs.”

But Council President Joe LaCava and Councilmember Jennifer Campbell said this week by email that they would like to reject the raises council members are expected to get later this year.

“If it was legally possible to refuse a pay raise, I would,” LaCava said.

Whether it’s legally possible has become the key question.

A city law called the “salary ordinance” says explicitly that council members and all other city employees have the right to refuse a pay raise. The only caveat is that their refusal can’t lower their pay below the minimum wage.

“Any elected officer may voluntarily choose to receive a reduction in the salary prescribed by law, so long as any applicable minimum wage requirements are met, by submitting a Personnel Change Request form to the Personnel Director,” the salary ordinance says.

But Ferbert, the city attorney, said the city’s public officials can’t reject pay bumps even if they want to. Her argument is based on the city charter, which serves as the city’s constitution and most powerful document, superseding the salary ordinance.

“The charter does not provide a means for a public official to refuse to accept, pause or refund salary increases granted by the voters,” she said by email. “To change this provision, the charter must be amended, which would require a public vote.”

LaCava, Campbell or any other elected official could challenge Ferbert’s stance in court by submitting an application for declaratory relief.

The Union-Tribune queried each of San Diego’s nine council members about whether they would be willing to reject pay raises during the budget crisis. Only LaCava and Campbell responded, and they both said yes.

Pressure for council members to take pay cuts usually comes when other city workers are also taking pay cuts, but that’s not the case in San Diego right now.

However, the mayor’s most recent budget proposal does call for eliminating 400 jobs — 277 vacant positions and 123 positions currently filled by a city worker.

Many of those 123 workers will be redeployed elsewhere in the city, but some will lose their jobs, city officials said.

Any rejection of pay raises this year would have only a marginal impact on the city’s budget crisis.

Using last December’s raises an example, the city would save just over $6,000 if the mayor and all nine council members agreed to reject pay raises this year.

Some critics say the 2018 ballot measure, which was approved by more than 78% of city voters, set the salaries for council members and the mayor too high.

Annual salaries have more than doubled for council members, who made $75,000 before the measure, and the mayor, who made $100,000 before the measure.

The mayor’s salary of $244,727 is higher than Gov. Gavin Newsom’s at $242,295, and council member salaries of $183,545 are higher than the $174,000 salaries received by members of the U.S. Congress.

But the salaries are comparable to the state’s other high-profile cities.

The mayor of Los Angeles makes $301,000 a year and the mayor of San Francisco makes $357,000. Council members in L.A. make $218,000, while county supervisors in San Francisco — which is a city and a county — make $163,878.

In San Diego, total annual pay for the mayor and council members has risen from $775,000 before Measure L to just under $1.9 million now, an increase of just over $1.1 million. While that’s a notable amount, it’s dwarfed by the city’s $2.2 billion annual budget.

Supporters say the extra money is a smart investment because of the crucial decisions council members and the mayor must make, including reading contracts, making policies and understanding proposals to make nuanced changes to city laws and codes. They also must analyze threatened and ongoing litigation, understanding when the city should settle or fight a case.

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