Review of City Bonuses Is Ordered

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, concerned that bonuses for municipal workers may be contributing to Los Angeles’ budget deficit, ordered the heads of five departments Tuesday to reexamine how they dole out extra money.

The city spent more than $117 million on bonuses last year, rewarding employees who are bilingual and others who work night shifts, for example.

Villaraigosa told the managers of the police, fire and general services departments, as well as the heads of the sanitation bureau and the information technology agency, to review all existing bonuses to ensure that employees are eligible for them.

“I don’t think we have the necessary control mechanisms in the system to ensure that bonuses are given appropriately,” said Villaraigosa, who will announce the reviews along with other budget saving plans at a news conference today.

Villaraigosa ordered the assessments after City Controller Laura Chick examined the system of bonuses and found a lack of checks and balances.

She found that Los Angeles has more than 300 types of bonuses, and that some employees get as many as three or four at a time.

Chick was unable to say how many of the city’s 36,000 employees receive the extra income, but she found examples of workers receiving bonuses without documentation to prove their eligibility .