"Yes, you read that right!" said San Diego City Councilmember Carl DeMaio. "You thought the Wall Street bailout mess was bad! Take a look at the 44% increase in the number of city workers earning $100,000 or more each year. Stay tuned for more data in the coming weeks on why the city has a spending problem, not a revenue problem."
Also, read this morning’s Union Trib editorial on the matter.
Six Figure Salaries Soar in City Workforce – Up 44% in One Year
DeMaio Releases Study on City Worker Compensation: “$100k Club”
SAN DIEGO – City Councilmember Carl DeMaio today released a report showing a shocking increase in the number of city workers earning $100,000 or more. The increase—in what DeMaio has dubbed the “$100k Club”—comes at a time when the City of San Diego faces a severe budget crisis and proposals for tax increases are making their way through City Hall.
“It is outrageous that in the middle of a budget crisis and talk about various tax increases, the City of San Diego has increased salaries for city workers—so much so that the number of people earning $100,000 or more has jumped by 44% in the past year alone,” DeMaio said.
DeMaio’s report lists a total of 1,255 city employees that made $100,000 or more in 2008. That’s up sharply from the 874 city employees that made the list last year. What’s worse, almost 12% of all city workers now earn six figure salaries.
DeMaio has produced this report for the past six years. In 2003—the year the city’s fiscal woes first started coming to public light—DeMaio’s first report showed a mere 483 city employees were part of the “$100k Club.” The 2008 figure of 1,255 represents a 160% increase from 2003.
DeMaio points to the study as “mounting evidence” of the real cause of the city’s budget crisis. “The city does not have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem. This data only confirms that the city’s budget problems are caused by an inability to control its labor costs,” DeMaio commented.
Two weeks ago DeMaio released the first of a three-part balanced budget proposal which included his proposed a real salary freeze for FY 2010. “If the politicians are serious about fixing the city’s financial problems, they must commit to cutting back membership in the ‘$100k Club’,” DeMaio commented.
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February 4th, 2009 at 12:00 am
These are sobering numbers. I’m am 100% sure that San Diego is not the only city heading towards this type of fiscal iceberg in the near future. The other concerning thing about these exorbitant salaries is the Rolls Royce defined benefit pensions that go along with them. These employees can’t lose. If the market does well, they do well. If the market/economy goes into a depression[like we’re in right now], the cities are on the hook to make up the difference as specified by the actuaries.
There is one way that these employees could lose. Any guesses? What if the city where they work has to declare bankruptcy…(think Vallejo here). If that happens, then all bets are off for these public employees. Keep us posted Barry what happens down there.