Commentary: Official Response to Published City Salary Information

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Commentary submitted by Beverly Hills City Manager Jeff Kolin.

The City of Beverly Hills recently provided comprehensive salary and benefit information to the Beverly Hills Courier in response to public records requests. In the interest of transparency in government, the City willingly granted the requests each time: All City salaries and benefits are, and should be, a matter of public record.

I would like to point a number of inaccuracies in the Courier's editorial commentary:

• It was stated that salary consists of "about half the cost of each employee," with the reminder of the cost taken up by benefits. In the chart provided to the Courier, the calendar year 2010 benefits actually make up on average 25.58 percent of total compensation for miscellaneous employees (non-safety) and about 29.60 percent of total compensation for sworn police and fire employees.

• The articles also stated that, "Most City of Beverly Hills employees cost taxpayers over $200,000 each year." In fact, 19.82 percent of full-time employees cost the City more than $200,000 each year. The average cost of a full-time employee to the City of Beverly Hills for calendar year 2010, including all special pays, leaves, payouts and benefits, was $210,667.25 for sworn police and fire, and $111,393.44 for non-safety employees.

• The articles mention that most City employees take every other Friday off—known as the 9-80 schedule—and implied that this was paid time off. The City offers a number of alternatives to the traditional 40-hour work week. One of those schedules, the 9-80 schedule, allows employees to work longer days over a two-week period (80 hours in nine days) and take a day off every other week, usually Fridays. This is unpaid leave, exactly the same as a regular weekend. All full-time employees work the same number of regular hours, regardless of schedule. The 9-80 schedule has a number of benefits for residents, including longer business hours at City Hall and less traffic congestion on Fridays. The 9-80 schedules were developed in the early '90s in response to the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s mandate that employer’s develop ways to reduce the number of drive trips their employees make during a work week. A number of private organizations offer a 9-80 schedule, including Cedars-Sinai, UCLA, Disney and Boeing.

• The articles say that all leave time (vacation, sick leave and administrative leave) can be cashed in if not used. In fact, a limited amount of unused leave can be cashed in each year; the amount varies by employee group. The cash-out option pays the accumulated leave at the employees' current hourly rate, rather than the generally higher rate they would be earning if they waited to cash out upon retiring.

• Another statement that "every City worker has at least 13 weeks off with pay" is inaccurate. Full-time City employees have from six to 13 weeks of paid leave each year, depending on length of service and their employee bargaining group. This includes sick leave, vacation time, national holidays, and administrative leave for executive and management employees.

• The statement, "Even highly paid executives and other staff members receive overtime" is inaccurate. Executive and management employees receive no overtime for hours worked beyond the regular work week. Management and professional receive 80 hours of administrative leave and can cash in up to 40 hours at the end of the year. Executive staff receives 120 hours of administrative leave and can cash in up to 80 hours at the end of the year.
  
  
• Regarding retirement, the articles say that "Beverly Hills grants employees retirement benefits equal to 3 percent of their highest-ever compensation multiplied by each year of service to a maximum of 30 years." Only sworn police and fire department employees receive 3 percent. All other City employees receive 2.5 percent.
  
  
• Finally, the articles state that "Beverly Hills does not know how many former employees receive retirement pay from working for Beverly Hills." The City knows exactly how many people have retired from the City. However, many employees have worked for other agencies and have accumulated retirement benefits through those organizations in addition to the City. Retirement benefits are calculated, processed and paid for by the California Public Employee Retirement System (CalPERS). Therefore, the record of retirement benefits for each employee is maintained only by CalPERS.

Jeff Kolin
City Manager, City of Beverly Hills

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