|
Data sources are described in the section Data Sources and Downloads.
How This Hole Was Dug
- Step 1 – Rapid Increase in Numbers of County Staff
- Step 2 – Rapid Increase in Average Salary and Benefits
- Result – Rapid Increase in Total Salaries and Benefits
So – between 1997 and 2002 the County rapidly increased the numbers of County employees, and after 2000 rapidly increased payscale and benefits per employee.
The result –
Total County of Mendocino Staff Expenses
| |
1995 |
2000* |
2006 ** |
| Total Salary ($Million) |
$27.4 |
$38.3 |
$57.9 |
| Total Benefits ($Million) |
$13.2 |
$18.6 |
$36.2 |
| Total ($Million) |
$40.5 |
$57.0 |
$94.1 |
| |
| Yearly % Change Total Salary |
|
6.9% |
7.1% |
| Yearly % Change Total Benefits |
|
7.1% |
11.7% |
| Yearly % Change Total |
|
7.1% |
8.7% |
* Year Slavin Study Adopted by County ** Assuming Proposed Budget Adopted
The County's staff costs 2 1/3 times more today than it did 10 years ago. Ten years ago County staff expense consumed about 2/3's of the County's Operational Budget; today it's 3/4.
Total Budgeted Salary increased slightly faster per year after Slavin than before. Growth in Total Salaries before Slavin was driven by the rapid increase in numbers of County staff. After Slavin growth was driven by increasing Average Salaries.
Total Benefits increased much faster after Slavin – in fact they nearly doubled. Total Benefits have been growing nearly 12% a year since Slavin.
Percentage Change in County Payroll per Resident
All California Counties (Other Than San Francisco)
1997 – 2002
The Center for Government Analysis report shows that the County of Mendocino was 4th out of 57 counties in increasing payroll per capita. The County's payroll per county resident increased 73.5% during these years, almost twice as fast than the average growth rate for California Counties of 38.4%.
The Center reported the payroll expenditure per capita (per citizen) for every California County in 1997 and 2002 and the change in those years for various categories of employees. Once again, simply comparing the number of County employees and their payroll per capita is not all that meaningful because of the wide differences among counties regarding what proportion of their residents live in cities. Our County is among the 20% of California counties that have more people living outside cities, which means the County has to provide many services to a higher proportion of our population that are provided by cities in most counties.
But even if our County can be expected to have more employees and payroll per capita than most other counties, why would our County increase its employees and payroll per capita much faster than almost all other counties? Because that's exactly what happened.
Our County increased its payroll per capita below the average increase among California counties in two categories – Financial Administration & "Other" Police. In fact, the County of Mendocino was in the lowest 10% of California counties in terms of increasing its payroll for Financial Administration – a remarkable and laudable achievement.
But – in every other category our County increased its payroll per county resident far more than the average of California Counties.
We were in the top 30% of California counties in increasing payroll per county resident for Police officers and Corrections – in other words our Sheriff's Department. We were in the top 20% of California counties in increasing payroll per cap for Judicial and Legal, Health, Welfare, and Parks and Recreation. The first 3 of these categories consume 60% of the County's payroll – they are by far the largest chunk of our County's payroll. In contrast, Parks & Recreation is by far the smallest category consuming significantly less than 1% of total payroll.
But when the Center added up all the numbers it found that the County of Mendocino was in the top 10% of California Counties in terms of increasing its payroll per capita from 1997 through 2002. In terms of directly comparing payroll dollars per capita rather than comparing the rate of change, Mendocino County is in the top 10% of California County payrolls per capita in 5 of 9 categories – Corrections, Judicial and Legal, Health, Welfare, and General Administration.
The Center also compared the growth of County payroll per capita with the growth of the median income of each county's population as a whole.
County staff categories whose payroll per County resident grew faster than the growth of personal income for county residents as a whole:
- General Administration
- Sheriff Deputies on Patrol
- Judicial & Legal
- Health
- Welfare
- Parks & Rec.
In contrast, payroll per capita grew slower than the "People's Income" in:
- Financial Administration
- Sheriff Employees in the Jail and Other Employees
Click here to see the Center's data for County Payroll (Dollar and Changes) Per Citizen
County of Mendocino 1997 – 2002.
This graph shows first the change in payroll dollars per county resident for each function from 1997 through 2002 (the green bar), then the total payroll dollars for each resident for each function in 2002 (the blue bar).
Payroll Dollars for Eight County Functions
County of Mendocino
Change between 1997 – 2002
Total for 2002
By every measurement, the total payroll expense of the County of Mendocino grew very rapidly compared to other Counties, compared to the County's history, and compared to the income of the community at large.
Click to go to next page, Our Main Cause of Debt, Pension Obligation Bonds.
|
