Council hikes city-employee salaries
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Deirdre Newman
The City Council on Monday approved increasing city employees’ and
the council’s salaries, moves that drew ire from some who said the
raises are irresponsible in a time of tight finances.
Among the top proposed increases for the first year are 8.8% for
the fire chief, 6.9% for senior lifeguards and 6.4% for firefighters.
City employees haven’t gotten a raise in three years. Employees’
increases, approved unanimously by the council, will be applied
retroactively to Sept. 1 except firefighters, whose raises will be
applied retroactively to July 1.
The increases, over three years, will allow workers to take home
as much as their peers in neighboring cities, officials said.
“It’s very much appreciated,” Fire Chief Jim Ellis said. “I know
citywide everyone needs an adjustment, and I know the city worked
very diligently with the negotiations. And I’m just very pleased at
the outcome.”
While no residents voiced opposition to the increases at Monday’s
meeting, some perennial council watchers said the council’s action
was irresponsible.
“Last year, all the city officials, all the City Council members,
worked long and hard to try and find additional sources of revenue,”
resident Mike Berry said. “It was very sincere, and we spoke with all
of the City Council members and said, ‘Look, there’s a $4-million
shortfall.’ This year, we went through the same song and dance.”
The council approved increasing the salaries of its members by
15%, the maximum they could over a three-year span. Councilmen Allan
Mansoor and Mike Scheafer dissented.
The increase -- the first in three years -- will not take effect
until the winners of the 2006 council election are seated. At that
time, council members’ salaries will increase from $828 to $952 per
month.
Scheafer, who lost his election bid earlier this month after being
appointed to the council last year, said he didn’t think the boost
was appropriate.
“We’re looking for ways to cut costs in our budget, and by
increasing the salary to the council, that doesn’t make a lot of
sense to me,” Scheafer said.
Salaries in Costa Mesa have dropped behind other cities because of
several budget issues, such as the state taking away local revenue.
The goal of the increases is to enhance the city’s ability to recruit
and keep high-caliber candidates, Mayor Gary Monahan said Friday.
For the first year -- the 2004-05 fiscal year -- the salary
increases will mirror the average of neighboring cities, minus 3%. By
the third year, employees will have reached the average of their
neighbors in Newport Beach, Irvine and Huntington Beach.
The salary increases will cost the city about $3.3 million the
first year, including about $2.4 million for the raises and about
$872,000 for benefits. The council allotted only $750,000 for salary
increases when it approved the budget in June. Most of the remaining
amount will be taken from excess revenue in the city’s general fund.
Monday, the council approved transferring about $1.9 million from the available revenue in the general fund to the various departments’
operating budgets. Finance director Marc Puckett said taking this
money was risky but necessary to reward employees for deserved and
overdue raises.
“The hope is that we’re pulling out of the recessionary
environment, and that as a result, we will have additional revenue,”
Puckett said. “But obviously, there’s no guarantee. We did have a
significant gap between revenue and expenditures this year, and we
will have to monitor that very closely.”
The council approved two measures in the past few months to boost
its revenue: a sponsorship program and a sanitation franchise fee. In
August, the council approved an agreement with a public marketing
group that will lead to planning of how to use the city’s assets to
pull in new revenue. Monday, the council finalized its approval of a
law imposing a 12% fee on the total sales of most of the city’s trash
haulers.
* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers government. She may be reached at (714)
966-4623 or by e-mail at [email protected].
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