Public Payrolls 2014: City of Las Cruces
By Steve Ramirez, Las Cruces Sun-News, N.M. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Click here to load this Caspio Online Database.
Despite
Many city residents who work for private sector businesses haven't seen a cost-of-living increase since the recession began.
City Manager
The bumps in pay also help keep city government competitive with its peers -- other municipal, county and state agencies -- employees could consider working for instead.
"(It's) nothing really great to brag about, but that's better than nothing -- or getting your salary cut, or seeing your take-home (pay) lowered because the cost of everything else has gone up," said Las Crucen Jenny Mendoza, who works as an office manager in a doctor's office. "Like everyone else, it seems, some people I know -- not everybody -- who work for the city grumble about the little raise they get for the work and responsibilities they have. In some cases, it's justified; in others it's not. There's just so many people in Cruces who live paycheck to paycheck. To me, the city seems to pay its people better than a lot of other places."
Lower than average
Garza said city salaries are slightly below those paid by municipalities across
"Are we paying people properly? Probably not," Garza said. "It was 2006 when the city last conducted a compensation study to compare what employees are being paid. We just recently received the results of a study we had conducted and we learned that we're underpaying a considerable number of our employees when compared to their peers.
"During the recession we realized that the vacancy rate of positions within the city ranged from 8 to 10 percent. There's 120 vacancies in city government right now. The study showed us the normal vacancy rate across the U.S. is anywhere from 5 to 7 percent."
Garza said elected city leaders will ultimately have to decide when and how city salaries could be improved to make them more competitive with those paid by comparable municipalities across the nation.
It should be noted published salaries of city employees do not include benefits or other financial incentives paid to them. Garza estimated benefits, such as retirement and health insurance, can boost employees' total compensation by as much as an additional 52 percent.
The top and bottom
The city of
Utilities Director
The rest of the city's Top 10 paid employees, in order, includes: Police Chief
Three others also earn more than
The lowest paid city employees is a very short list.
"We have four employees who are paid
Garza added what city officials consider "entry-level positions" begin with an hourly rate of
Trimming the fat
Due largely to the anemic recovery and by extension the lower gross receipts taxes being collected in
"In the proposed budget that will be brought forth to
The city's
___
(c)2014 the Las Cruces Sun-News (Las Cruces, N.M.)
Visit the Las Cruces Sun-News (Las Cruces, N.M.) at www.lcsun-news.com
Distributed by MCT Information Services
Wordcount: | 898 |
Novu website makes wellness fun and rewarding
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News