Law That Takes Effect Jan. 1 Requires Sharing Public Employee Pay Information Online

Starting Jan. 1, local public agencies will be required to post information on the annual compensation of their elected officials, officers and employees. Under existing law, cities and special districts are required to file an annual report with the State Controller’s Office identifying the annual compensation of their officers and employees. AB 2040 extends the law so that public agencies are required to also post the same information on their own websites.

Public agencies can comply with this law in two ways: directly include the salary information on the agency’s website or provide a link on the website to the State Controller’s “Government Compensation in California” site, which can be found by clicking here. It’s likely the latter option will be the easiest for most agencies.

The information or the link must be posted in a “conspicuous” location. The bill does not define the meaning of “conspicuous,” so there is no specific location regarding where the information or the link must be included. However, the information or the link should be posted in a manner that is not hidden and that indicates that the salary information is available.

The requirement to provide salary information on local agencies’ websites applies to all cities and special districts that maintain a website. Thus, cities or districts that do not currently have a website are under no obligation to create one. However, every city and special district is still required to report its salary information to the State Controller’s Office, regardless of whether it maintains a website.