Council hikes city-employee salaries

Deirdre Newman

The City Council on Monday approved increasing city employees’ and

the council’s salaries, moves that drew ire from some who said the

raises are irresponsible in a time of tight finances.

Among the top proposed increases for the first year are 8.8% for

the fire chief, 6.9% for senior lifeguards and 6.4% for firefighters.

City employees haven’t gotten a raise in three years. Employees’

increases, approved unanimously by the council, will be applied

retroactively to Sept. 1 except firefighters, whose raises will be

applied retroactively to July 1.

The increases, over three years, will allow workers to take home

as much as their peers in neighboring cities, officials said.

“It’s very much appreciated,” Fire Chief Jim Ellis said. “I know

citywide everyone needs an adjustment, and I know the city worked

very diligently with the negotiations. And I’m just very pleased at

the outcome.”

While no residents voiced opposition to the increases at Monday’s

meeting, some perennial council watchers said the council’s action

was irresponsible.

“Last year, all the city officials, all the City Council members,

worked long and hard to try and find additional sources of revenue,”

resident Mike Berry said. “It was very sincere, and we spoke with all

of the City Council members and said, ‘Look, there’s a $4-million

shortfall.’ This year, we went through the same song and dance.”

The council approved increasing the salaries of its members by

15%, the maximum they could over a three-year span. Councilmen Allan

Mansoor and Mike Scheafer dissented.

The increase -- the first in three years -- will not take effect

until the winners of the 2006 council election are seated. At that

time, council members’ salaries will increase from $828 to $952 per

month.

Scheafer, who lost his election bid earlier this month after being

appointed to the council last year, said he didn’t think the boost

was appropriate.

“We’re looking for ways to cut costs in our budget, and by

increasing the salary to the council, that doesn’t make a lot of

sense to me,” Scheafer said.

Salaries in Costa Mesa have dropped behind other cities because of

several budget issues, such as the state taking away local revenue.

The goal of the increases is to enhance the city’s ability to recruit

and keep high-caliber candidates, Mayor Gary Monahan said Friday.

For the first year -- the 2004-05 fiscal year -- the salary

increases will mirror the average of neighboring cities, minus 3%. By

the third year, employees will have reached the average of their

neighbors in Newport Beach, Irvine and Huntington Beach.

The salary increases will cost the city about $3.3 million the

first year, including about $2.4 million for the raises and about

$872,000 for benefits. The council allotted only $750,000 for salary

increases when it approved the budget in June. Most of the remaining

amount will be taken from excess revenue in the city’s general fund.

Monday, the council approved transferring about $1.9 million from the available revenue in the general fund to the various departments’

operating budgets. Finance director Marc Puckett said taking this

money was risky but necessary to reward employees for deserved and

overdue raises.

“The hope is that we’re pulling out of the recessionary

environment, and that as a result, we will have additional revenue,”

Puckett said. “But obviously, there’s no guarantee. We did have a

significant gap between revenue and expenditures this year, and we

will have to monitor that very closely.”

The council approved two measures in the past few months to boost

its revenue: a sponsorship program and a sanitation franchise fee. In

August, the council approved an agreement with a public marketing

group that will lead to planning of how to use the city’s assets to

pull in new revenue. Monday, the council finalized its approval of a

law imposing a 12% fee on the total sales of most of the city’s trash

haulers.

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers government. She may be reached at (714)

966-4623 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.