(a) The board may, by ordinance or resolution, provide that each director shall be paid a sum that shall not exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each calendar month that he or she serves as a director. The board may, by ordinance or resolution, provide for an adjustment to the monthly compensation based upon the percentage increase in the California Consumer Price Index, as calculated by the Department of Finance, for each calendar year following the operative date of the last adjustment. The adjustment shall not become effective until the next regular election of the directors following the adoption of the ordinance or resolution.
(b) The ordinance or resolution to authorize a monthly stipend pursuant to subdivision (a), in lieu of per-meeting compensation, shall include a requirement that a director may receive a monthly stipend for a given month only if he or she attends all scheduled and noticed regular board meetings for that month. For those directors meeting this attendance requirement, the amount of one hundred dollars ($100) shall be deducted from the stipend for failure to attend each meeting of a committee on which he or she serves that month. In any month that a director fails to meet these attendance requirements, that director may be compensated at the rate of one hundred dollars ($100) per board or committee meeting attended, not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500) for that month.
(c) For the purpose of this section, a director who misses a scheduled and noticed meeting of the board or committee while attending to official district business pursuant to authorization shall be deemed to have attended the meeting.
(d) The ordinance or resolution may provide for not more than two excused absences during a calendar year without disqualifying the director for a monthly stipend.
(e) In addition to the compensation otherwise provided in this section, each director may be allowed necessary traveling and personal expenses incurred solely as a result of the performance of his or her duties, in amounts as may be authorized by the board. Reimbursement for these expenses is subject to Sections 53232.2 and 53232.3 of the Government Code.
(Amended by Stats. 2010, Ch. 491, Sec. 4. (SB 1318) Effective January 1, 2011.)