County Paid $7 Million to Employees in Perks in 1995

Ventura County spent more than $7 million to provide car allowance, education benefits and longevity pay for county employees last year, according to a survey by The Times.

This is in addition to the $17 million the county spent on overtime in 1995, according to county records. All but $2 million of that money went to the fire and sheriff’s departments.

After overtime, the single most costly benefit to the county--which is grappling with a projected $19-million deficit--was educational incentive pay.

The county paid $4.5 million in cash bonuses to 3,247 employees for having a college degree--whether related to their job or not. In addition, the county spent $289,000 on tuition and books for workers going to school,

Another costly benefit was $2.2 million paid in longevity benefits, annual cash bonuses paid to employees who have been with the county more than five years.

Also, the county spent $192,000 on car allowance for several dozen county managers and their staff members last year. This is on top of the 30 cents per mile the county reimburses for use of their vehicles.

Faced with dwindling revenues and increasing demands for service, Supervisor John Flynn, who supported many of the employee perks in the past, said the county must reconsider the long-term financial impacts of these benefits on county coffers.

“We have a problem,” Flynn said. “It would be irresponsible to say that we don’t. It’s an issue we have to address and not hide from. We have to consider the tough financial times we’re in.”

On top of the cash bonuses paid to employees, the county is liable for other major payroll expenses, such as the $13 million it currently owes to workers for accumulated vacation time. This is significant because all workers are given the option of cashing out their vacation credits, rather than taking time off.

Another major expense is overtime. The county Fire Department had the largest tab of any department, spending $8.5 million out of a nearly $50-million budget on overtime.

“I think that’s out of line,” Flynn said, noting that he plans to meet with Fire Chief James Sewell in the coming weeks to discuss the issue.

But dealing with vertime may be easier than wrestling with specific cash benefits, such as educational incentive pay. Flynn and others said that state laws and union contracts put limits on what the county can do to rein in some of the financial perks paid to government workers.

“There’s no way to say to employees with negotiated contracts that we’re going to reduce their salaries,” Supervisor Frank Schillo said. “You can’t do that.”

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Schillo said, however, that he believes the county can put restraints on the salaries and cash benefits offered to new employees. He said he and Flynn plan to bring up the issue during budget hearings in July.

“Why should the government have a fat program of benefits for employees when the private sector is downsizing?” Schillo said. “It’s a different world now.”

Barry Hammitt, president of the employees union, said the county’s pay structure is designed to keep costs down. Hammitt said it makes more sense for the county to pay for bonuses rather than to raise employee salaries, which drives up retirement costs.

“The reason we do a lot of these things is because the county of Ventura is cheap” when it comes to the average worker, he said. “They don’t pay very well. This is an attempt to put money in people’s pockets, recognize them for what they do and to keep them from leaving.”

But Schillo said the county can no longer afford some of the financial bonuses it offers and will either have to look at cutting back on future benefits or reduce the size of the county’s work force, which currently stands at about 7,000 employees.

“It used to be that you came to government knowing you wouldn’t be paid much, but that the benefits would be nice,” he said. “It doesn’t work that way anymore. The fact is that nowadays the pay has gotten high and the benefits have gotten higher.”

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Schillo said he plans to propose that when the county hires an employee that it compare that individual’s pay and benefits package to a similar position in the private sector, rather than another public agency.

“Then, we’ll get real,” he said.

County officials have taken action in the past to eliminate some cash benefits. Bowing to public pressure, the Board of Supervisors voted in 1993 to abolish a series of perks for elected officials and increase their base salaries to more accurately reflect their true compensation.

But those reforms did not apply to other nonelected managers and employees who still receive the same types of fringe benefits that were taken away from public officials, such as the educational benefits.

Under the county’s benefit plan, an employee with an associate’s degree is eligible to receive a cash bonus equal to 2.5% of the base salary per year, paid every year. An individual with a bachelor’s degree gets a 3.5% bonus, while someone with a master’s degree collects 5%.

Critics say the benefit program is generous, considering that it makes no difference if an employee’s college degree applies to that individual’s job.

“You could have a degree in photography and be an accountant in the auditor-controller’s office, and you’d still get credit for it,” said one official.

Schillo said he believes that an employee’s college degree should directly benefit their job for the person to be eligible for a bonus.

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“They should get compensated if their educational experience makes them more valuable employees,” he said.

Hammitt, of the employees union, said that the educational incentive pay was designed to encourage workers to further their education. He said employees with college degrees--regardless of their major--make better workers.

“The primary function of the incentive pay is to enrich the work force,” Hammitt said. “Regardless of the position an employee holds, for them to obtain a degree enhances their ability to perform their job because of the breadth of experience they pick up with a college education.”

One cash benefit supervisors have taken steps to eliminate is longevity pay. County managers and other employees with more than five years experience collect eight hours of annual leave credit for every year worked.

For example, a manager with 10 years experience would have accumulated 80 hours of credit. That employee then has the option of cashing out the credit or taking time off.

Earlier this year, however, county supervisors agreed to fold longevity bonuses into the base salaries of all 710 eligible employees beginning July 1. The salary increase, which will raise the county’s retirement costs by at least $1 million a year, will be based on an employee’s years of service.

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In addition to the salary boost, the employees will still receive cash payments or vacation time for longevity credits already accrued. The amount distributed to employees in July is expected to be similar to the $2.2 million the county paid last year to 673 employees.

Another perk subject to criticism is the $192,000 in car allowance for department heads, managers and their staff members. In all, 54 employees received either $375 or $150 a month in car allowance last year. This was in addition to the 30 cents per mile reimbursed.

Flynn said he believes the county should do away with the car allowance.

But Schillo said he believes some officials deserve the extra money. The supervisor noted that he purchased a new car after he was elected in 1994 because he knew he would be doing a lot of driving. The round trip from Schillo’s home in Thousand Oaks to the Government Center in Ventura is 50 miles.

The two supervisors agreed that their main focus is keeping control of salaries, cash bonuses, vacation buybacks, overtime and retirement costs.

Flynn pointed out that he and former Supervisor Maria VanderKolk proposed significant cuts in salaries and benefits three years ago and were harshly criticized for it.

“I haven’t forgotten some of the heat we took,” he said. “The public never came to our aid in supporting our issue. It’s hard to do anything unless you’ve got their support.”

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Taxpayer advocates, however, warn that the county needs to take steps now to control its salary costs if it wants to ward off the kind of financial problems that have recently beset neighboring Los Angeles County.

“The one who always gets stuck holding the bag is the taxpayers,” said Joel Fox of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. “They don’t even know what’s going on, and they are the ones responsible for paying the bills.”

Fox said an association-commissioned study on Los Angeles County’s pay structure will be released this week. He said officials there have allowed the system to get out of hand.

“It just seems outrageous to me that Sheriff Sherman Block makes more money than the president of the United States and we’ve got a situation where there are empty jails downtown because there is not enough revenue to open them,” Fox said. “That just shows you that you can go broke trying to fund this system.”