Transit Wage Study May Muddy Merger

Los Angeles County Transportation Commission employees generally make more money than their peers at the Rapid Transit District, a disparity that may complicate the planned merger of the two, a study concludes.

The RTD study discovered that fully one-third of the Transportation Commission’s workers are eligible to make $80,000 or more, a far higher percentage than at any other public agency in the county.

The striking salary differences between the two transit agencies and incompatible retirement and benefit plans could be especially troublesome because budget shortfalls leave no money to equalize pay for comparable jobs when the commission and RDT are merged.

The study, by RTD Controller-Treasurer Thomas A. Rubin, found that salaries run higher and jump quicker at the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission and its subsidiary, the Rail Construction Corp., than at the RTD, the public bus company soon to be absorbed by the Transportation Commission.

Transportation Commission officials dismissed the analysis as insubstantial and inconclusive because it compared proposed salary ranges for different jobs rather than actual salaries, and failed to take into account the different functions of the two agencies.

“That there are salary differences at different agencies shouldn’t surprise anyone,” said Neil Peterson, the Transportation Commission’s executive director. “It’s a problem that obviously can be solved. . . . It’s done all the time when agencies or companies merge.

“Of all the hurdles that we will have to jump to make this merger work, this is one of the smallest.”

Rubin defended his report, which is scheduled to be presented to the RTD Board of Directors on Jan. 23. He said it “is not a perfect comparison, but it is reasonably close.”

“We did not tilt this,” Rubin said. “We just went out to see what people are paid and we found these differences.”

The differences, he said, are characterized by the fact that Transportation Commission pay ranges indicate that 175 of the commission’s 517 employees earn at least $60,000 a year.

That means the Transportation Commission has 2 1/2 times the number of “highly paid” workers as the RTD, even though the district has three times as many “management” employees. Unequal pay within the combined agencies may create employee dissatisfaction, Rubin said.

One-third of the Transportation Commission’s jobs have salary ranges that top out above $80,000, compared to 24% at the Southern California Air Quality Management District and the Metropolitan Water District.

The analysis broadly defines management workers to include virtually anyone working behind a desk, from secretaries to chief executives, and many who do not, such as bus operations and maintenance supervisors.

Rubin conceded that this definition may exaggerate the overall differences between the agencies, because the Transportation Commission is far more white-collar. He acknowledged that some of the difference is because of the disparate tasks each agency performs. But he insisted that some salaries vary widely, even for comparable jobs.

“The basic things done at the commission and the basic things done at the district are different,” he said, “but there are a lot of things we have in common--accounting, finance, risk management, insurance. Those are things you would find at any large organization.”

He acknowledged that the study only dealt in estimated differences and was not a comparison of payrolls.

A particular job, for example, may have a salary range of $28,905 to $36,187. The employee’s actual salary would depend on individual experience, training and performance, with employees usually starting toward the bottom and working their way up.

Even here, however, Rubin found differences.

At the RTD, the average employee appears to fall slightly below the mid-point of a range for a particular job, while employees of the Transportation Commission and the Rail Construction Corp. tend to be near the top of the range, he said.

Pay differences between the agencies are found from bottom to top--from secretaries to chief executives--but the greatest differences are toward the top of the pay scale, Rubin said.

“Once we get up into the $50,000, $60,000 and $70,000 pay range, there appears to be a big jump” in favor of Transportation Commission employees, Rubin said.

RTD General Manager Alan F. Pegg, for example, is paid a straight salary of $125,000, while Peterson, the commission’s executive director, earns a salary and perquisites--such as no-interest home loan, valued at between $175,000 and $210,000--from 40% to 68% higher.

That comparison is complicated because the commission’s budget this year is bigger than RTD’s, $1.062 billion compared to $665 million. That reflects the commission’s broader responsibility for building new rail lines as well as passing along federal operating subsidies to the RTD and 10 smaller agencies.

On the other hand, Pegg manages an agency with more than 9,000 budgeted employees, compared to 517 at the Transportation Commission.

Further down the management tree, the RTD director of finance, with a staff of 96, can earn up to $93,048, while the Transportation Commission’s controller, a peer who manages a staff of 44, has the potential to earn a maximum salary of $115,592--24% more.

An RTD budget manager who oversees seven employees can earn a maximum of $72,576, while a Transportation Commission budget analyst who oversees six workers earns as much as $84,215--16% more.

Sometimes, differences favor RTD employees. An RTD general accounting manager, for example, may earn up to $80,136--4% more than his peer at the Transportation Commission.

Peterson dismissed such comparisons.

“You don’t just say, ‘This guy supervises 16 people and this guy supervises seven.’ It’s not that simple,” he said. “There are vastly different responsibilities for those positions.”

The Legislature is scheduled to take up a merger plan approved by the Transportation Commission and the RTD this month. The merger could start as soon as March or as late as next January.

Salary Fast Lane Among local government workers, Los Angeles County Transportation Commission employees have the greatest opportunity for high-paid jobs and big raises, a study by the Southern California Rapid Transit District has found. One third of al LACTC workers are eligible for annual salaries of $80,000 or more. Percentage of workers eligible for $80,000 or more. DWP: 3.53%SCRTD: 3.93% CRA: 6.14% L.A.: 6.75% MWD: 23.68% SCAQMD: 23.87% LACTC: 33.91% Legend: DWP: Los Angeles municipal Department of Water and Power SCRTD: Southern California Rapid Transit District CRA: Community Redevelopment Agency L.A.: Municipal government for the city of Los Angeles MWD: Metropolitan Water District SCAQMD: Southern California Air Quality Management District LACTC: Los Angeles County Transportation Commission