Paying $100,000-plus backfires on strapped cities

Adam Ashton MODESTO BEE: March 08, 2009

The number of Modesto city employees earning six-figure incomes doubled in the past two years, from 98 to 200. In Turlock, the group tripled, from 17 in 2006 to 53 in 2008. How did the paychecks for our public servants grow so quickly? The ranks of high earners in Stanislaus County's public sector swelled as local governments sought to reward employees as well as retain police officers and firefighters who were being lured by better-paying jobs in the outer Bay Area.

Flush with rising sales tax receipts and a housing boom, cities believed they could afford those salaries when new contracts came before councils and boards in 2006 and 2007. Now, with the housing sector a shambles and sales tax receipts plummeting, commitments made in those years are crashing against the bottom line for local governments facing millions of dollars in spending cuts. "Everything's being looked at," said Modesto City Councilman Brad Hawn. "Furloughs, reductions in salaries -- at the end of the day, it's probably going to be a bit of everything."

In Modesto, the boom brought the city's general fund revenue up to $120.4 million in 2006, a $17 million increase over 2002. The city expects revenue for its next budget to look more like 2002 than 2006. The city on Tuesday plans to begin describing how it will plug a $10 million deficit. Furloughs, early retirements and layoffs are expected. Some unions anticipate being asked to postpone raises.

Cities give their best wages to public safety officers, who also earn extra money by working overtime that can't be avoided in emergencies. That amounted to a $40,000 boost for one Modesto fire captain whose pay topped $154,000, primarily because of four weeks he spent fighting wildfires around the state. Mark Greenlee worked 3,652 hours in 2008, 740 more than a typical firefighter and nearly 1,600 more than what most people work in a year at 40-hour-a-week jobs. "He worked close to twice as many hours as the guy who worked 40 hours a week," Fire Chief Jim Miguel said, explaining that the department gives overtime to the first firefighter who responds to a call to fill in for a sick or vacationing colleague. In Modesto, 159 of the city's 200 employees with six-figure incomes worked in the police or fire departments.Stanislaus County's top salaries go to a different set of employees. Most of the 235 people who earn six figures are attorneys, doctors, psychiatrists or those who run state-mandated social programs.
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• Ceres City Manager Brad Kilger was the highest paid city government executive in 2008 with $203,266 in gross compensation. That edged out Tim Kerr in Turlock, who earned $187,980. Modesto City Manager Greg Nyhoff has a higher base salary, but he didn't begin working for the city until June.
• Modesto has attempted to trim overtime spending in the Police Department, but the city spent $3.8 million last year, up from $3.2 million in 2006.
• Nearly one in four Modesto police officers earned more than $100,000. More than half of the city's firefighters exceeded that threshold.
• One fourth of the $1.2 million the Modesto Fire Department spent on overtime last year was reimbursed by the state for time city firefighters spent trying to douse wildfires. One captain spent 21 days out of the city fighting wildfires, time that was reimbursed by the state.
• Stanislaus County had 235 employees earning more than $100,000 in 2008. Most of them hold white-collar jobs as attorneys, doctors, psychiatrists and program managers; 28 were sheriff's deputies. On average, deputies earn $500 less each month than Modesto police officers

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Don Quixote Note: Modesto is one of Vernon's sister Cities.