At its upcoming meeting of Tuesday, July 22, 2025, the Novato City Council will consider a labor agreement for the Novato Police Civilian Employees Association — which includes dispatchers and community service officers — as well as Compensation Plans for three unrepresented employee groups: Engineers, Confidential, and Exempt Management. These four agreements would cover the three-year period of July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2028 and represent 31% of City staff. Negotiations with the remaining three labor groups are ongoing, with continued emphasis on balancing future fiscal health and competitive compensation.
With Novato’s first balanced budget in over five years, supported in part by voter-approved Measure M, the City is taking meaningful steps to align staffing, services, and investments in critical infrastructure with community priorities.
“Seventy percent of the City’s budget funds our greatest asset — our employees,” said Mayor Tim O’Connor. “From maintaining our streets and parks to answering, and responding to, emergency calls, to creative community programming, our employees are vital to delivering services to our community. These agreements represent a critical step toward the City’s longer-term effort to address employee compensation, strengthen its workforce to better support community priorities, and build a more resilient and financially sustainable organization.”
Of the approximately $10 million of annual revenue projected from Measure M, $4 million has been allocated in the Fiscal Year 2025-26 City Budget to maintain essential services such as road repair, public safety, emergency response, park maintenance, and local business support, as well as address long-standing employee shortages by restoring previously eliminated staff positions, including two maintenance workers. Measure M also supports $1.8 million to the annual street pavement program and other deferred maintenance, $1.0 million to support long-term pension liabilities and investment of $150,000 for a modern financial system and $100,000 for a business tenant improvement program.
Approximately $500,000 in Measure M funds will support these four labor agreements in their first year — helping the City address historic pay gaps and continue delivering high-quality services the community relies on.
Key terms of the proposed agreements include:
- Comprehensive approach to adjusting salaries to move positions closer to market median
- 11% salary increase over three years
- Continues to cover as much as 100% of medical benefits for employees and their families
“Novato has had a challenging financial history. For years, we have struggled to keep our salaries competitive within the market leading to inconsistent service delivery due to recruitment and staff turnover issues,” said City Manager Amy Cunningham. “Thanks to the community’s support of Measure M, we are now on a path to improvement. We are committed to enhancing our compensation framework, which will take some time, particularly in these uncertain economic times, but we are optimistic about the future. Our focus is on ensuring the City remains financially stable while being a great place to work.”
A heartfelt thank you to our employees for their resilience in delivering quality services during years of deficits, budget reductions and fewer resources needed to do their jobs. These agreements reflect another step forward on the long road to rebuilding the organization and restoring services.
View the agenda for the upcoming City Council meeting at novato.org/agendas.
