County Manager David Hankerson had a lukewarm reaction, at best, to most of the efficiency suggestions offered up last week by the Cobb Commission-appointed Citizen Oversight Committee. And he wasn’t interested in creating full-time audit and compensation committees.
But Hankerson was “all systems go” for the COC’s recommendation that the county hire a consultant to perform a class, pay and benefits study.
Commission Chairman Tim Lee also quickly jumped on board.
“It’s something that we agreed five, six years ago that we needed to do on a regular basis,” he said. “To keep competitive, to keep our positions and our programs and our compensation packages competitive, so that we don’t lose good folks. We need to find where the market is now; it’s changed considerably over the last couple years.”
Indeed, it has. Just ask the many Cobb residents struggling to pay their property taxes (which Lee and his board hiked last year) despite having lost their jobs due to the prolonged economic downturn. Or ask the many residents who have jobs, but jobs that pay less in salary and benefits than the ones from which they were downsized during the downturn.
Meanwhile, taxpayers who keep an eye on local governments have deciphered the way bureaucracies “game” salary studies. They’re used to justify higher salaries for many employees or pay grades because some other jurisdiction halfway across the metro area is paying more than we are. So we raise our pay. Then guess what? Those other jurisdictions do studies that show we’re paying more than they are, and thus raise their compensation; and the cycle repeats itself.
And when was the last time you heard of such a study that reported that the sponsoring government was paying most, or all — or any — of its workers too much, and recommended decreases?
With the private sector struggling to make payrolls, with private-sector annual raises a distant memory for many workers and with a surplus of qualified people competing in the job market, it’s hard to see much justification for such a study. And it’s hard to see any justification for spending close to a half-million tax dollars on it; especially coming on the heels of last year’s decision by Lee’s commission to axe library services and close senior centers.
Lee and Hankerson seem to be operating on the theory that most or all of the county workers under them are irreplaceable and thus deserve Cadillac-level compensation. They are not and do not, especially with so much of the county and so many taxpayers under water.
Taxpayers here and everywhere are tired of funding above-market salaries and lavish retirements for government workers. Such sentiments are not confined just to Wisconsin.
So if Cobb leaders are curious about how much county workers are getting paid in nearby jurisdictions, then rather than forking over local tax dollars to find out, we suggest they tell their HR Department to send out a questionnaire or start dialing away.
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Insider, GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT!
Hankerson needs to go and so does Coker.
I am a county employee. I do not need another study to tell me what the market rate is. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has already done so. According to the Bureau's latest study (which reviewed salaries in my field in both the public and private sector), my pay is at least 36% below market. It is easy to spew junk opinions on this subject, but facts do not lie. And before you respond by saying I am lucky to have a job and because I am a government worker, I do not have to work as hard, let me further tell you this. I did the same job in the private sector for over ten years, and I work just as hard with no better benefits working for Cobb County. Working weekends and nights in addition to normal business hours is not at all unusual for me.
And if you do not believe the BLS's numbers, let me tell you about one of our employees who left Cobb County government for the exact same job in a neighboring county. She got a 30% raise!
Further, almost all of my neighbors who work in the private sector are taking vacations, buying new cars, and remodeling their homes. That is wonderful, and I am glad for them, but don't tell me I am overpaid-the facts do not lie
So, you ask, why do I stay? Because I love my job, and I love serving the citizens of Cobb County. But don't insult me by telling me I do not know what it is like in the private sector and that I am overpaid.
And to Dustoff - I have tried to email and call Personnel several times and NEVER got a return call or email. Maybe they are above the level of your study and don't have to work as much.
You have to keep calling until you get lucky enough for someone to answer.
And why is Hankerson's picture on their web page????
Even the "outside" agencies paid for by the county used unequal comparisons to create a "market value." As always, the elected folks got the increase while the rest of use had to measure up (or down). Either way - it was all on paper and there was no appeal.
We had to fill out multi paged forms listing all of the work we performed, training we had, education, and answer lots of questions.
Six months later we got our new pay grades and I appealed mine. During the process the so called coordinator admitted that they did not even read all of the individual info but took a random sample.
They might as well have used a dart board for what it was worth.
But HR is too busy to do it in house, try to get someone there to answer a phone or return a call, they are understaffed and overworked. NOT!!!!!!
But you can be sure King David gets his annual raise!!!!
Good money saving idea???