Mary Souza’s Newsletter
I almost fell off my chair when I realized that the City of CdA gives SIX weeks of paid vacation after employees have been on the job over 10 years. Doesn’t that sound European? Don’t the French mandate that everyone have six weeks paid vacation each year…how’s that entitlement working out for them?
But the golden benefits don’t stop with a mere SIX weeks. Goodness, no! You have to add sick time of THREE weeks per year, for everyone, even the newbies. And then add in ELEVEN paid holidays, for everyone of course. And there’s more…
The total possible paid time off for city employees is just shy of THREE MONTHS per year, for those over 10 years on the job. And there are lots of people who qualify. New people to the city must settle for just under TWO MONTHS possible paid time off per year.
But don’t feel badly for the newbies, they advance quickly. After only 3 years with the city they are up to 3 ½ weeks of vacation, and after 5 years they jump to 5 weeks. (The Fire Dept’s rates are different and appear even more generous.)
Doesn’t this seem outrageous? But we’re not done yet. Buckle in for the list of paid benefits to go along with all that time off:
City benefits include:
Medical Insurance
Vision Insurance
Prescription Drug Insurance
Dental Insurance
Life Insurance
Long Term Disability Insurance
Health Savings Accounts
Retirement Accounts
Counseling Services
Tuition Reimbursement
Wellness Program
Please remember that the City is does not make a profit to pay for these generous benefits; it creates no tax revenue, instead it uses your taxes. All of the vacation time, sick time, holiday pay and long list of other benefits are paid by taxpayer dollars.
In my last two newsletters, I showed you the 19 positions at the City that make over $100,000, and compared them to the 4 in Twin Falls and 0 in Caldwell, which are Idaho cities of equal population to Coeur d’Alene.
Let me add this little tidbit: No one at the County makes $100,000 or more.
The updated 2011 info from the US Dept of Labor shows that full time jobs in the CdA area average $38, 500 per year. And that’s if you’re lucky enough to have a job. Unemployment in our community has been stuck near 11% for many months.
How can our City pay levels be so out of line with the real world? Because they have a union. In fact, they have three unions: Fire, Police and City Employees. None of these unions represent the taxpayers, of course, and during the contract negotiations, guess who sits across the table from the union folks? City administrators who are supposedly representing the interests of the taxpayers but will directly benefit from any increases to the contracts!
Now a Washington State Union has donated $1500 to the CdA city council campaigns of John Bruning, Ron Edinger and George Sayler. The CdA Employee Union has donated $1500 to these three candidates as well. These unions want to make sure their golden pay & benefits will continue to grow.
How have we let this go so long, people? We all know there are many wonderful people who work for the city, but these salaries and benefits are out of control. The only thing you can do is Vote. And get everyone you know in CdA to vote also. It’s up to you.
Dan Gookin and Steve Adams will bring common sense to our council.
You can vote right now at the Elections Dept at 1808 North 3rd Street, or you can go to your usual polling place on Election Day, next Tuesday, Nov. 8. If you have questions about where to vote, just call the Elections Dept at 446-1030.
I will leave you with this wise thought from the French philosopher Voltaire, back in 1764: “The art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other.”
Just gets better and better doesn’t it ???? Makes me feel sick as I struggle to keep my doors open with rising taxes and the waste of tax money as the city keeps putting their hand in my pocket. Ugggg !!!
Comment by Jullee — November 4, 2011 @ 2:04 pm
If it is any consolation, Mary, the benefits having changed in over 10 years, as they are similar to what I received. They were the result of years of not being able to increase wages in the years prior to 1990. Of course, they may seem high now when coupled with the wage structure but one thing is certain. Highly compensated and benefitted employees are loyal to their employer and work their tails off in return.
Comment by JohnA — November 4, 2011 @ 3:18 pm
“Work their tails off” as in working to do their jobs correctly or in working to keep their bosses happy and their employment guaranteed?
Comment by Wallypog — November 4, 2011 @ 3:36 pm
ROFLMAO JohnA. Work hard. You mean, hardly working.
Comment by concerned citizen — November 4, 2011 @ 3:50 pm
Such cynicism. What a shame.
Comment by JohnA — November 4, 2011 @ 4:48 pm
No wonder my property taxes haven’t
gone down; even after losing 1/3 value in my home. Call it cynicism if you want but, it seems almost criminal to me. A private business could never survive those type of golden benefits to employees. Then again, the city is bargaining with other peoples money. That’s the problem.
Comment by kageman — November 4, 2011 @ 4:54 pm
No cynicism. Something progressives hate more, fact. I have worked for a bureaucratic municipality, trust me, I have seen the system abuse at it’s best. I am one of the few that chose the more ethical road and got out rather than become part of the problem. But, there are those that believe, “everyone does it, so what the heck”. I could not live like that. I cannot understand those that can.
Comment by concerned citizen — November 4, 2011 @ 5:01 pm
The outrageously high salaries in the Bell, California, scandal were concentrated in just a few officials and employees. Here in Coeur d’Alene, the salaries and benefits are distributed among a much larger number of beneficiaries. The question Coeur d’Alene residents need to ask is whether we are getting maximum value for those salaries and benefits.
Comment by Bill — November 4, 2011 @ 5:20 pm
You hit it on the head, Bill. I happen to think CDA has the best employees because they are long-time employees who are loyal to their employer. I’d rather have that experience on my police force, and fighting fires, and plowing my streets than the poorly paid employees at other entities. The key is the incentive versus the output. I think CDA has top employees who know their employer values their contributions. Just as in the private sector, you need the best employees to be the best organization you can be.
Comment by JohnA — November 4, 2011 @ 5:39 pm
JA, if I may take the liberty, I would add a few words to your comment … “are loyal to their employer and work their tails off in return”, especially at election time.
Comment by Gary Ingram — November 4, 2011 @ 5:40 pm
JohnA,
Since the “employer” is the all the residents of Coeur d’Alene, then it follows that the citizens and not the hired help (the elected and appointed officials) should be able to determine how much their employees will be paid. “A government (the hired help) that robs Peter (the citizens) to pay Paul (the hired help who reports to the hired help) can always depend on the support of Paul.”
Comment by Bill — November 4, 2011 @ 7:46 pm
Me, I agree with FDR:
Comment by justinian — November 4, 2011 @ 7:49 pm
Really? Ya think? Good grief man, these are golden plated benefits attached to grossly inordinate salaries. Have you no shame?
Comment by justinian — November 4, 2011 @ 7:50 pm
OK lets look at the facts. CDA working citizens are drowning in taxes. The economic downturn continues unabated. Total tax revenue to the city continues to decline. Now we learn from Mary Souza in her revealing article that CDA city authorities and its employees pay themselves vacation, holiday and sick day benefits like a Marie Antoinette on sterioids – over and above what most working citizens don’t have or will ever have? Who in CDA but a city employee gets 6 weeks of paid vacation? Who gets 3 months paid vacation, holiday and sick leave? If you are a Employer/Producer in the city – no matter what your business – you don’t offer or receive these perks, right now you are struggling to make ends meet. A good day for you is that you made payroll this week/month! No business is exempt from these hard economic times. Except city employees. Why? Because they TAKE and turn a blind eye. Remember, the city operates on tax revenue, not on marketplace risks and profit returns. They don’t need net income on the bottom line to get paid! They just TAKE their expenses out of the big TAX POT. The system is set up so they get their negotiated deal no matter what happens in the real world. Do they worry like a true PRODUCER worries? Nope. But they need to start WORRYING – like the rest of us. We need to cut taxes and get the producers in our city increasing sales, revenues and profits. This will increase the TAX POT. So CDA needs to lower taxes and cut these benefits to match private sector levels. Until this happens the city remains out of touch and a travesty! So be on guard!
Grafcus,
PS The DNA of our unenlightened tax-loving CDA officials goes back centuries. My wife found a wonderful quote from Jean-Baptiste Colbert, the 17th-century French minister of finance, who once remarked that “the art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest amount of feathers with the smallest possible amount of hissing.”
Comment by grafcus — November 4, 2011 @ 8:07 pm
Welcome, Grafcus! Your comments are music to my ears. You sound like someone who has been in the real world marketplace of work, risk, profit or defeat. So true, what you said about our city being takers. It’s time to start using common sense and taking back controls of our city.
Comment by mary — November 4, 2011 @ 10:48 pm
Says JohnA:
Comment by justinian — November 4, 2011 @ 10:50 pm
All Government employees should realize that the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Comment by justinian — November 4, 2011 @ 11:11 pm
“Public Employees Retirement System of Idaho (PERSI)- the state retirement plan is required for employees who are scheduled to work at least 20 hours per week for more than 5 months. The employee contribution for general employees is currently 6.23% and is deducted from each paycheck. The employer contribution is currently 10.39%. The employee contribution for police and fire employees is currently 7.65% and the employer contribution is currently 10.73%. PERSI also offers death and disability benefits.”
Comment by justinian — November 5, 2011 @ 7:43 am