ANAHEIM : City Boosts Manager Pay--Theoretically

The City Council by a 3-2 vote increased the pay scale for managers in city government this week, but because the city does not have enough money to pay for raises, none can yet be given.

David M. Morgan, the city’s human resources director, said the 4.5% increase to the managers’ pay scale was made to keep it in line with the scale for employees who are not managers, who all received raises last year. He said the move also tells the 400 managers and professional employees that when the city’s budget woes are solved, they will be rewarded.

“I think we are recognizing that the managers have not had a raise in the last year, and we are telling them they are not being forgotten,” Morgan said. “I think it should be pointed out that when the city had its budget problems last year, it was the managers who said, ‘Don’t give us a raise.’ ”

Morgan said that even though the pay scale has been increased, the raises will not be mandatory; the council will need to approve allocating the money if raises are actually given.

Anaheim--which has an annual budget of about $544 million--recently cut $8 million from its budget and imposed a 2% utility tax to balance the budget.

City officials say that sales tax revenue for this fiscal year, which ends June 30, could be $3 million less than projected, which could lead to more cuts.

But critics said increasing the pay scale will surely lead to a future raise for managers, which should not be promised. “I think it is inappropriate to be sending out this kind of message,” Councilman William D. Ehrle said.

He and Councilman Tom Daly voted against the proposal.

Amin David, a leader of Anaheim Citizens Against Tax, called increasing the pay scale “very ill-timed.”

“The managers keep bringing up that compared to other cities their salaries aren’t keeping up,” he said. “That is a fallacy. All you need to do to determine if your salary schedule needs adjusting is to look at your rate of turnover. . . . Anaheim’s is not very high.”