SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
March 25, 2021
Sullivan’s Salvos 3/30/21
In this edition:
*Wages of County Employees
*Did You Know?
*Wages of County Employees
I think it is important for both county employees and the public to have total transparency when it comes to the budget. That includes how we determine wages for county employees.
Obviously, this can be a touchy subject. Employees work hard, and deserve to be well-compensated. Taxpayers deserve to know what we are proposing and why. Both groups deserve to be heard on the matter.
The process is always a challenge. Unfortunately, because of the bad faith arguments made by Supervisor Rettig, the process is even more difficult. So I am going to try to lay out all the facts here. Please feel free to contact me with any questions you might have.
Johnson County has about 500 employees. Just under half of them are represented by a union (bargaining, AKA union) and half are not (non-bargaining). Union employees fall into one of six bargaining units, three represented by the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and three represented by Public Professional and Maintenance Employees (PPME). AFSCME represents Ambulance, SEATS, and Social Services; PPME represents the Sheriff’s Office, Secondary Roads, and Administrative Units.
There was a big change to this recently. Chapter 20 of Iowa Law changed to require bargaining units to recertify more frequently. The Johnson County Admin Unit, represented by PPME, voted to decertify. So they no longer exist as a union. That means the 60 or so people they represented move from bargaining to non-bargaining status. Johnson County now has five bargaining units instead of six.
Interestingly, Johnson County had a longstanding tradition of “mirroring” the Admin Unit when it came to pay and benefits for non-bargaining employees. For example, say the Admin Unit got a 3% raise and had to contribute an additional $5/month to insurance premiums. The Board would typically then increase non-bargaining pay by that same 3%, and increase the employee insurance contribution by that same $5. This was a longstanding practice that dates back to well before I became a Supervisor.
Over the years, I brought up the issue of “mirroring” several times. In many ways, it was taken for granted by non-bargaining employees. That always chapped me a bit. Union employees had hammered the agreement out at the bargaining table. Nonunion employees simply benefit from the results. And there was/is no law saying we HAD to couple the two. We could give non-bargaining employees more or less than the Admin Unit negotiated. And there may be times where I would choose giving them something less. (That has not happened.) I can definitely tell you I would never vote to give them more. That would be an unforgivable slap in the face to the union employees. I would work like hell against the reelection of anyone who ever made such a vote.
(Some private employers have attacked my union connections. I am a proud member of AFT-716, and a voting delegate to the Iowa City Federation of Labor. I do not hide it; I am a union supporter. People knew this when I got elected. I ran on my union experience, in much the same way a CEO might tout their experience cutting budgets.)
So, now that there is no Admin Unit, there is nothing to mirror. We could simply choose a different bargaining unit and say we are going to mirror it, but I think that would be a mistake. I think we are going to need to look at the results of all our contracts, and vote accordingly.
So what can we expect for the next fiscal year, FY22? As usual, there are things to consider on both sides. Despite COVID, unemployment in Johnson County is quite low. On the other hand, we know several people are simply not willing or able to seek work until the virus is under control. Johnson County staff members did a fantastic job of ensuring we collected everything we could in terms of CARES Act funding and FEMA claims for the derecho. So these huge increased costs have largely been reimbursed. And you can just look around and see that builders and lenders are still optimistic regarding growth.
In addition, county employees stepped up BIG TIME during COVID and the derecho. They did whatever was needed, without complaint. We really, truly have a great group of employees. It is a cliché, but I want this group in my foxhole.
On the other hand, there are also a multitude of reasons leading us to believe that FY22 calls for caution when considering wage increases. The tax growth estimate for FY22 is 3.5%. Compare that to 4.7% in FY21, 4.1% in FY20, and 7.5% in FY19. This is the worst revenue year Johnson County has had in a long time.
There are indications that revenues may continue to be tight in the future. Some restaurants and retail outlets are unlikely to reopen. Going forward, many businesses and every rental properties will be appealing their assessments. Appeals typically result in some level of a drop in value – therefore a drop in revenue. In addition, the Iowa Legislature is dedicated to ensuring that rich people avoid property taxes.
We also need to look at how county employees are currently compensated. Johnson County has what is called a “comparability group” for the purposes of comparing wages and benefits. This is a legally established peer group by which we are compared. Our comparability group includes ourselves, Linn, Scott, Black Hawk, Dubuque, and Clinton Counties. Traditionally, Johnson County wages have always been at the top of our comparability group. I am fine with us being at the top. The question is, by how much?
Employees always want to be compared to the University. Salaries are generally higher there. But the fact of the matter is, we simply cannot pay what the UI pays. If we did, we would need to lay off scores of employees, and services would suffer. It would be bad for everyone.
We often hear from private business owners who complain that the county pays employees too well. They tell us they cannot compete with our salaries, let alone a very good insurance plan and the IPERS retirement program. In addition, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for our area sits at about 1%, and has for some time. When inflation is only 1%, a 3% raise seems much larger.
How do county employees rank in terms of wages? The median household income in Johnson County is $61,000. That is per household, not per working individual. You need to go all the way down to our 135th ranked job classification to find an entry-level, non-bargaining county salary that falls below this median family income. There are only 156 jobs classifications in total, and the lowest paying position is $55,037 – only $6,000 below the median household income. And remember, the county wages are a single income, not a household. In other words, Johnson County employees do quite well relative to the rest of our county’s residents. In addition, as mentioned, county employees have an excellent and very low-cost health plan, and an excellent and very low-cost retirement plan. Both are far superior to what is available on the private market.
Wages and benefits are by far the largest piece of the county budget. If Supervisors put too much into wages, there are preventative maintenance projects that will be delayed, vehicle and equipment purchases that will be delayed, and training that will be cut. New hires will not get approved. So employee raises are not the only thing affected by this lack of revenue.
Remember, we have 3.5% growth. In the last year of the recent contracts, employees got a 2.25% COLA plus an average of 1.8% merit pay. That totals a 4.05% increase in compensation. FY22 revenues simply do not merit 4.05% for both bargaining and non-bargaining employees. Revenues are 3.5%.
(A brief aside on the CPI: For the length of our contracts, which have been in effect a long time, CPI has never approached 4.05% in any year of the contract. In fact, most years it has been a quarter of that.)
That is a lot of background. Let’s get to the point. Last year, our non-bargaining staff received 4.05%. Supervisor Rettig wanted to do that again this year. I recommended, and the rest of my colleagues agreed, that we set non-bargaining employee compensation at 2.75% for FY22. Contrary to the criticism, I feel that a 2.75% increase is pretty fair, especially when the CPI is 1%.
Again, we did not know what the unions would be getting when we chose this amount. Union negotiations JUST wrapped up, about a month after our budget had to be published. (Yes, it is bad timing!) Negotiations went exceedingly well! Our union employees know the County is a good faith partner, and they are responded in turn. Negotiations were friendly, and went quite quickly.
In the Ambulance, SEATS, and Social Services Units, AFSCME agreed to 5-year contracts. The first year is a 2% increase, followed by 2.25, 2.5, 2.75, and 3% in year five. In the Secondary Roads Unit, PPME agreed to the same 5-year contract; 2, 2.25, 2.5, 2.75, 3. In the Sheriff’s Office unit, PPME agree to a three-year contract at 2.75, 3, and 3.25. Considering that I had no knowledge how this would turn out when I suggested 2.75% for non-bargaining employees, I feel really good about my proposal. It was clearly in the ballpark.
Hopefully, you can see by reading this that agreeing upon wages for county employees is hard. There is a lot to consider. There are bound to be hurt feelings. I do not take any of this lightly.
That is why I get so pissed off at Supervisor Rettig. She does not negotiate in good faith. She drops rhetorical bombs – most full of lies. Then when confronted on it, she hangs up. Trust me, I would LOVE to debate this with her in public, on the record. But she would never agree to terms that actually allow me to speak. And as usual, 4/5 Supervisors came together to do the right thing. Just know, as you consider all of this, that she is completely disingenuous.
There are no perfect answers. I hope you know I have given you the best I’ve got, even if you aren’t satisfied. And I hope this explanation has given you a glimpse into how county employee wages are determined.
*DID YOU KNOW? The total of 500 employees includes only permanent, full-time positions. There are several temporary positions in County government – mostly in elections.
Anyone interested in learning more about County government should take a look at the County website-
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---Rod
posted by Rod Sullivan @ 10:25 AM
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