San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said he wants to see measurable improvements in homelessness and public safety before doling out pay raises for top city officials.

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan has proposed a new “pay for performance” model that ties pay raises to work accomplishments, aiming to address the city’s biggest challenges. The proposal, unveiled ahead of the mayor’s annual budget report,

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said the initiative isn't about automatic cost of living raises public sector employees get, but the raises they could get beyond that.

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan has long said he wants elected officials and city leaders to be accountable for eliminating homelessness and improving public safety. That's the centerpiece of his latest 2025-26 budget message.

To increase government efficiency, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan proposed a “pay for performance” raise model for city leaders, including himself.

San Jose’s top city leaders could be denied pay raises if they don’t deliver services sufficiently — a possible first for a major U.S. city — under a plan being announced Monday by Mayor Matt Mahan. Mahan will ask the City Council in his budget message later this month to place a measure outlining the proposal on the 2026 ballot.