County shouldn't fund philanthropy or venture socialism

To The Daily Sun,

The newest members of the New York City (NYC) millionaire class are blue-collar city employees such as mechanics, plumbers, welders, prison and fire captains, tractor operators, etc., etc., etc. Auditors at OpenTheBooks.com analyzed city payroll data for fiscal year 2017; finding 83,400 NYC employees brought home incomes of $100,000 or more, a 10 percent increase from fiscal year 2016. The information comes from a Forbes article by Adam Andrzejewski (https://www.forbes.com/sites/coxbusiness/2018/11/16/drone-maker-sees-business-opportunity-in-keeping-workers-and-warfighters-safe/#434f5b974ced).

Despite his promise to reform to pay and perquisites, Mayor De Blasio provided his city workforce with billions of dollars in overtime and extra pay which last year alone amounted to $3.2 billion. Compensation is more than salaries. Last year, 162,000 city workers got $2 billion on 34 million hours of overtime. The city paid $1.2 billion in extra pay, a category of compensation that includes bonuses, lump sums, allowances, retroactive pay increases, settlement amounts, differentials, and more. You can go to either the article or to OpenTheBooks.com to get more information on how the game is played.

Here in Belknap County we probably don’t give a rat’s butt about New York City compensation issues; but maybe we should. Here’s why. Right here in Belknap County, negotiating our union contracts, we have a New Jersey transplant from the NYC–Philadelphia corridor. The views of proper compensation in NYC and New Jersey are somewhat different than what we have supported here in the past. Further, the last three years the county commissioners have proposed budgets increases of 9+ percent, 33+ percent and 7+ percent, for a cumulative total proposed increase of about 50 percent. Their proposed budgets may or may not conform with what is in the best interest of county taxpayers. At a minimum county compensation is an area that should receive budget scrutiny.

In Belknap County wages and benefits contractually increased in the 2018 budget by more than 6.5 percent over the 2017 level. At the time it was noted that it is important to acknowledge the use of overtime as a factor in the expansion of the cost of wages and benefits. Better management of our human resources is necessary to mitigate OT. Employee cooperation is required to find ways to hold down OT costs in fiscal year 2018.

Compensation, the sum of all personnel related costs, is the single largest part of most county departments’ budget. Total compensation in the county budget should be considered to include: wages, full-time, part-time, elected officials and overtime; plus compensation other health incentives, sick pay, longevity; plus absentee compensation, group health insurance, payroll tax, retirement, unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation, contracted services, training, and travel. The county does not track total compensation as either a department or unionized work group subtotal which is an opportunity to improve.

Undoubtedly, the employees work hard. But looking at NYC’s payment patterns raise troubling questions about that city’s management. Some employees seem to be overworked while others may be overpaid. Control of expense is open to debate. This is a cautionary tale we may want to understand.

Belknap County property tax dollars are an attractive target. As justification of proposed spending increases the commissioners have rationalized that Belknap County does not spend as much as other counties. That position is budgetary sloth, lack of budgetary discipline. The county has no business funding philanthropy or venture socialism. It should spend what is necessary to meet the constitutional responsibilities of county government.

Marc Abear

Meredith