The employee wage distribution for the City of Hollister was
significantly top-heavy and concentrated in public safety when
compared with San Benito County based in a Free Lance analysis of
2009 pay data, according to figures recently posted online by the
state.
News analysis by Marty Richman
The employee wage distribution for the City of Hollister was significantly top-heavy and concentrated in public safety when compared with San Benito County based in a Free Lance analysis of 2009 pay data, according to figures recently posted online by the state.
The analysis showed that 22.5 percent of city employees earned at least $100,000, more than three times the county rate of 6.6 percent. The data reflects wages, not fringe benefits. The highest-paid group includes 29 of Hollister’s 129 full-time employees and elected officials and 27 of 408 among county employees using identical criteria.
Most $100,000-plus city jobs, 21 of 29, were in the public safety sectors – or the police and fire departments. Overall, the public safety professionals cost the city $5 million in wages, according to the data. This was $1.1 million in excess of the maximum payroll rates for those positions, indicating the city spent 27 percent in overtime or other wage enhancements.
The remainder of the city’s wage distribution was also crowded toward the top. For the 2009 year, 23.3 percent of the city’s total full-time workforce earned between $80,000 and $100,000 in wages while only 8.6 percent of the county’s workforce fell within that category. The portion of full-time city employees making at least $70,000 was more than twice the county’s rate, 55.8 percent and 25.0 percent, respectively.
The wage and other selected compensation figures came from a public website hosted by the state controller’s office. The data can be accessed at lgcr.sco.ca.gov. For the analysis, full-time employees were defined as those making at least $25,000 a year and all elected officials. The data does not include the employers’ cost share for the CalPers retirement plans or other post-retirement benefits.
The county’s 27 highly compensated employees includes five elected officials: clerk-auditor, sheriff-coroner, district attorney, assessor and treasurer-tax collector. Members of the city council receive only token wages but are eligible for healthcare benefits. County wages averaged $58,195 while city wages averaged $76,658, or 31percent more. There was also a substantial difference in average healthcare costs. County healthcare costs averaged $6,900 per employee. At the same time, the city averaged $13,613 per employee. This usually reflects workforce demography.
The county outspent the city in one category – paying a part of the employee’s share of pension contributions. Payments for 78 city employees averaged $627, while 402 county employees received payments averaging $4,086. One reason for this imbalance is the major difference in the retirement plans used by the city and county. Higher county payments on behalf of employees are designed to offset some of the disparities.
CalPers retirement plans are usually defined by two numbers; the percentage for each year’s service and the minimum retirement age. Employees meeting the age requirement can calculate their annual benefit by multiplying the percentage by their years of service and then their final annual pay. Typically, there is an upper limit such as 90 percent and the pay basis is usually a three-year or final year average.
An employee with a “3 at 50” plan can retire at age 50. If the employee had 30 years of credited service and his or her final annual pay was $100,000, their retirement benefit would be $90,000 a year – 3 percent times 30-years equals 90 percent of the salary.
All county employees had the same retirement plan in 2009, 2 percent at 55. City employees had one of two plans based their job category. Non-public safety employees had 2.5 percent at 55 plans while police and fire had 3 percent at 50 plans.
Evaluating the relative retirement costs would require a complete analysis of the contributions by both jurisdictions. That data was not available. However, the county’s annual payment offsets recognize more costs as they occur. Meanwhile, the city’s higher retirement rates and earlier retirement age will be substantially more expensive in the end.
Marty Richman is an occasional correspondent and a weekly columnist for the Free Lance.
NUMBERS
22.5: percent of city workers making $100K-plus
6.6: percent of county workers making $100K-plus
$58,195: average county annual wage
$76,658: average city annual wage
72.4: percent of city’s $100K workers in public safety
