Burbank has given $4 million in city bonuses since 2007
Hundreds of Burbank city employees have received a collective $4 million in bonuses since July 2007, according to documents the city fought in court to keep out of public view.
The records released by city officials reveal a work culture built around that bonus system, which for some employees has amounted to tens of thousands of dollars in the last four years alone. It dwarfs a bonus program in Glendale, a city nearly twice as large, which distributed $1 million during a 10-year period to top managers.
Burbank city executives have defended the bonuses as an important tool in retaining top talent, but records show that the annual payouts extend to hundreds of rank-and-file employees each year. Over time, the bonuses — which range from $30 to $22,000 at a time — can accumulate and add significantly to their salaries, and the city’s pension obligations.
The employee at the top of the list, Burbank Water and Power General Manager Ron Davis, pulled in $79,000 in bonus pay during the four-year period. Davis’ total salary in 2010 was $263,028.
Public Works Director Bonnie Teaford, who made $207,176 last year, was paid $55,000 in bonuses during the last four years. Other department directors — Management Services, Information Technology and Library Services — each accumulated $31,500 to $40,000 in bonus pay during the same period, according to the records.
City Council members noted Thursday that they had suspended bonuses for mostly executive-level employees for the coming fiscal year, given a budget in which library upgrades were put off, fire services were reduced and fees were raised.
“As a result of that, we are returning that money to city services, which is important,” said Councilwoman Emily Gabel-Luddy. “Frankly, it was a very important step to take. Actually, it was critical. And we took it.”
The release of the records ends a months-long fight between the city and the Burbank Leader, which filed a public records request seeking information about bonus amounts given to individual employees. Burbank denied the request in January, arguing that it would harm employee morale and violate workplace privacy rules.
But the newspaper, which is owned by the same parent company as the Los Angeles Times, filed a lawsuit. A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge in May sided with the paper, ordering city officials to release the information.
In the weeks leading up to the documents being released, residents had been critical of the city’s decision to bail out a fledgling municipal golf course while trimming fire and youth job services and putting off library upgrades to close an $8.7-million budget gap. But when told of the total bonus amounts — and that they extended to hundreds of employees — residents were incensed.
“That’s outrageous!” said Emily Lindwood, 56. “Families are losing their jobs, insurance and homes in record number and they are giving themselves bonuses? What is our world coming to? How can I get a job with them?”
Patricia Garcia, 38, agreed: “Things like this just stink of corruption, even if there isn’t any going on. After Bell, I think everything needs to be scrutinized, especially people getting these huge bonuses.”
But the majority of employees who received bonuses this past year will continue to be eligible because the payouts are written into their union contracts. The City Council would have to renegotiate those terms to completely suspend the system.
A $7-million increase in pension costs was singled out as the main contributor to Burbank’s $8.7-million budget gap for this fiscal year.
In the fiscal year 2009-10 alone, the city doled out $1.16 million in bonuses for 527 city employees, or about 43% of the of 1,214 eligible workers. One hundred employees earned $10,000 or more in bonuses during the four-year period.
The data also show that 19% of those who received a bonus did so four years in a row.
Even as tax revenues have been hit by the recession, the cumulative amount of bonus pay has increased. In the fiscal year 2007-08, the city distributed $1.07 million. In 2008-09, that amount increased to $1.11 million, and in 2009-10 it rose to $1.16 million as the City Council continued to expand the program for some unions.
To earn a bonus, employees must meet specific goals and objectives established at the start of the fiscal year, although oversight of how they are divvied up varies by department and depends on the management structure, officials said.
Former Burbank City Manager Mary Alvord said the bonuses were an important tool to reward hard-working employees, but agreed that the amounts should be public.
“You are paid by taxpayers’ money,” Alvord said. “As a taxpayer, you have the right to know. And you can’t play hide-and-seek with that.”
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