City payroll costs rising

Firemen are petitioning the City Council for a higher entry-level pay rate but the council seems increasingly concerned about the long-term impact of that proposal and recent pay changes on the city bank account.

The operating statement for July, the first month of the city’s current fiscal year, shows wage and salary spending was $276,100, about 28 percent higher than July of last year.

That figure does not count City Court employees, who are paid through the General Fund in order to qualify for city benefits but are paid by the court, so are not officially called city employees.

Annualized, July’s wage and salary spending, if all factors remained constant, would total $3.3 million over 12 months, a figure significantly larger than the most-recent fiscal year and one that does not include about $60,000 extra from police pay plan approved in July but not yet in effect and raises given by Mayor Bob Morris to various employees in August, increases which total $66,000 over a year’s time.

In the fiscal year which ended on June 30, the city spent $2.18 million on wages and salaries, excluding overtime. That was down about $200,000 from the previous fiscal year’s $2,380,100. In the last full fiscal year before Morris took office, the city spent $2.33 million on wages and salaries.

Firemen would like the entry pay raised from the current $7.50 to $9.25. With the percentage differences required between grades and including the chief, the annual cost would be about $130,000, including benefits.

Additionally, the Eunice volunteer department is asking the council to consider raising the rate for volunteer calls from $12 to $20 in an effort to enhance recruiting.

At September’s council meeting, Ward 3 member Chawana Fontenot expressed concern that the city might be heading for a rude awakening should revenues not meet growth expectations.

“The mayor and council have given a tremendous amount of raises. My gut is telling me we need to slow down and think about the future,” she said.

“The next administration (no matter who it is) may have a burden that is difficult to live with,” Fontenot said.

She wanted to form a committee of the mayor and two council members to review salaries of non-classified personnel, which Morris said he would have none of, asserting it overstepped the council’s authority.

Alderman at-large Jack Burson agreed, saying the Louisiana Supreme Court has reinforced the mayor’s authority in such matters, leaving to city councils the authority to require the executive branch to consider the budget impacts of its actions.

He suggest the issue be referred to City Attorney Jacque Pucheu for a report at the October meeting.

Fontenot expressed concern that some employees with 20 or more years with the city are being paid less than some with just a few years on the job.

“We need to take a look at job duties with the rate received,” she said.

Morris in August had lamented that some long-term employees were making too little. Following that month’s council meeting, he initiated a number of raises, but not everyone reporting to him received one.

There is no formal city pay plan which establishes salary ranges for non-classified (police and fire) employees. That is an executive decision, as is who gets any increase.

Payroll expenses for every city department but wastewater increased in July over the same month a year ago. In some instances that may be because more people are employed. The operating statement does not reflect number of employees.

General government pay was $31,800, up $8,000 from the same month last year; police pay was $108,000, up $27,000; fire pay was $54,500, up $22,500 (an increase which reflects the expense of terms of a settlement of a law suit over pay); street pay was $32,000, up $10,000; recreation pay was $11,000, up from $5,000; gas pay was $24,400, up from $18,100; and wastewater pay was $13,700, down from $15,100.

Annual pay expenses for the departments for the past two years were:

General government, $298,000 in Fiscal 2008-09, $292,000 in Fiscal 2007-08; police, $950,000, $971,000; fire, $414,000, $376,000; street, $259,000, $270,000; recreation, $82,000, $57,600; gas, $208,000, $215,000; wastewater, $153,000, $176,000; Liberty theater, $21,500, $22,500.

At one point during the discussion this month, Morris asked Fontenot if she thought he was giving too many raises.

“I think they are selective and too much in some cases,” she said.

Base payroll in departments under the mayor’s supervision was $113,000 in July 2009, compared to $85,700 in July of last year. In the year ending June 30, that payroll total was $821,000, about $200,000 under the year before and about $300,000 under the last full fiscal year before Morris took office.