The local
blog, Right Side of the Lake just published a complaint about the Lake County
staff getting $1000 bonuses.
In their
article, former School Board member (and new County Commissioner) Jimmy Conner
was quoted that there were no pay increases at the School District last
year. However, the Board approved a 17%
hike in health benefits without questioning ways to modify it, which I was told
computed into a 2% total increase in the wage and benefit package for all
employees. No corporation I ever worked
at would pay such increases. They would
reduce benefits, or pass costs on to employees as increased co-pays. I am also sure there were automatic step
increases in many paychecks. Step
increases are based upon tables for every position, and provide automatic,
annual salary increases of 2% or more.
No corporation uses step increases.
This year
the School Board was also looking at a
12% hike for health benefits, but they ARE considering a move to a self insured
program, and they should be looking at going direct with their provider and not
paying fees to the broker in Leesburg.
Most private firms would be handling their own administration tasks
regarding health insurance, but the School Board pays the outside broker to
administer it. The problem is every
time such subjects are discussed, the union reps bounce up to the podium to
remind the officials that the issue would have to be “negotiated” with the
unions, which significantly delays everything.
Since such negotiations are behind closed doors, the public never knows
what happens, or the tradeoffs that were given away by the officials to the
unions.
Additionally,
don’t ever forget that every government agency uses the “step increase” charts
to provide AUTOMATIC pay increases to employees each year. These are hidden pay increases never
disclosed to the public because they are passed as part of a budget package and
many times the elected officials may not know the staff automatically includes
those increases because it is lumped in with wage increases due to employee
growth.
Finally,
governments many times give excessive raises to government employees during
increased tax revenue times, but don’t reduce them when revenues drop down to a
long term average dictated by history.
For instance, over 30 years, the County GDP and inflation may show a
rise of 2% a year, but during better times, Government public and hidden (step
increases) salary & benefit hikes
(don’t forget pension demands) are given because the money is available, but
their long term average greatly exceed the long term benchmark of the local
economy (i.e. maybe 3-4%, including hidden increases). That is why after awhile the elected
officials and unions result to demands for increased sales tax, reduction of
non-wage expenses, and there is very little left to cut. The end result is local bankruptcy, like is
happening in California, etc. because the public taxpayer ability to fund the
continuous government salary increases above the real, long term growth
trendline is significantly lower because the public’s salary increases and
property valuations don’t grow at the same rate resulting from government
salary demands.
Additionally,
all wage and benefit “negotiations” with unions should be transparent and open,
so newspapers and the public can see what is being said. Often times I listen to advocates for higher
teacher salaries to say the starting pay of $35,000 or so is not enough. The problem is that I was told by one source
that the average teacher salary is now $55,000 because many of the teachers
have seniority, and they can hire experienced teachers from other locations and
give them wages based upon their years of experience. All jobs have low, starting wages, but if the
average is $55,000, that is higher than the County household wage.
What is
needed is a public workshop to clearly disclose ALL payroll and benefits
related expenses so the true amount is known.
Then the
workshop should compare the year to year growth to a 40 year trend line of
local non-government wages, tax revenues, etc to see how much the government
wages have exceeded that trendline, and how much the salaries / benefits should
be lowered to match the local economic trend.
Without doing that, the end result will be all workers at high wages and
benefits, with no funds left to pay for the lights. That is what has happened in one or more California
cities recently, and they have, or will file bankruptcy.
As always,
my facts may be 50% wrong, but I don't know which 50% because I can't attend
all the Board meetings, and the public is not allowed to attend salary
negotiations. That is why local government agencies need public workshops to
explain and disclose ALL salary and benefit levels and proposed increases for
each category of related costs.
vj
