Redding leaders are in the hot seat to fix the city’s finances — fast. With Redding’s expenses outpacing revenues, the city’s general fund will be under scrutiny at upcoming budget workshops. And while councilmembers agree that personnel costs will need to be taken into account, there is no consensus on how exactly to reduce these costs.
To contextualize Redding’s salaries and understand how pay is determined, the Record Searchlight surveyed the public salaries of city workers and spoke with department and personnel officials, councilmembers, and an expert in the field of taxpayer advocacy.
The Record Searchlight also compiled a list of the highest paid workers, tracked the change in their base salary from 2020 to 2024, and compared Redding’s salaries to those in other California cities.
Explore these findings and reports on salaries across each of these various city departments below.
City of Redding employee salaries in 2024
The debate over how to mitigate personnel costs boils down to two questions: Should there be salary reductions? Or should the city let employees go? Some argue that city salaries are set where they’re at to remain competitive in the job market and retain talented employees, but an expert in the field of taxpayer advocacy has some concerns over cost effectiveness.
“The taxpayers want the people in government jobs to be good at what they’re doing and not to be heading for the door at the first opportunity. So there’s a sweet spot there,” says David Kline, vice president of communications and research at the California Taxpayer’s Association.
When Kline heard that Redding’s city manager, Barry Tippin, had a base salary of $329,979 in 2024, for example, he recalled that Gov. Gavin Newsom’s base salary during the 2024-25 fiscal year was under $243,000.
“When you’re making significantly more than the person who’s the chief executive of one of the largest states in the union, you have to ask what the taxpayers are getting for their money,” Kline says.
Find out how much top Redding city officials were paid in 2024 and councilmembers’ thoughts.
Redding Electric Utility salaries in 2024
Redding Electric Utility (REU) has floated raising rates to cover rising costs, and one councilmember believes personnel could be an underlying cause. See how much top REU employees were paid in 2024 and read more on councilmembers’ thoughts here.
Redding Police, Fire departments salaries in 2024
As the city’s finances come under close examination, one of the major costs in Redding’s general fund to consider will be firefighters and police officers. In the 2024-25 fiscal year, police and fire made up nearly 75% of net personnel costs to the general fund, $34.5 million going to police and $22 million going to fire.
But, while Redding councilmembers agrees personnel needs to be discussed when looking at budget cuts, there is no consensus on how exactly to do so, especially when it comes to public safety.
Read more on Redding’s top firefighters and police officers salaries in 2024 here.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: How much are Redding public employees paid? See top salaries in 2024
Reporting by Redding Record Searchlight / Redding Record Searchlight
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