Contributor Opinion By John Britton: City Staff Compensation Increases Proper

>The arguments whether the recently approved compensation increases for Rockville staff are a “slap in the face to [City] residents” or, if not approved, a balancing of the budget through “punishing our hard working staff” are straw man arguments. They woefully miss the mark. As so often happens, substantive discourse inexorably slips into the polemics of histrionics, soundbites and headlines. I relied on none of these in determining my support for the compensation increases. To the contrary, I found compelling certain facts and circumstances that for me informed the decisionmaking on this issue.

As in other jurisdictions, Rockville is confronted with a decline in revenue as a result of the overall economic situation and we will face a further decline in the next budget year. Consequently, for the fiscal year 2010 budget, the Mayor and Council had to make certain choices as to what budget items to maintain and what items to reduce or jettison from the originally proposed budget which had been presented prior to a definitive understanding of the revenue situation.

Being pro-labor (working class roots and strong family labor and union ties), I viewed as important maintaining our commitments for compensation increases, if at all practicable, to the 555 full time City staff. There were other reasons to take this view. The increases were an integral component of a union contract that extended to 113 regular employees and 56 full time police officers, a contract that was negotiated in good faith and agreed to by the City and the unions. The contract set out cost of living adjustments of 3.25% and step increases of 3.25% and 3.50% for union employees and police officers, respectively. In fact, the previous Mayor and Council endorsed this contract in great part as an effort to bring the compensation of Rockville’s employees into greater parity with that of employees in other jurisdictions. The City’s breach of this contract is warranted only with a showing of dire economic circumstances. I did not believe we could make such a showing and, therefore, I was reluctant to jeopardize the City’s contractual integrity.

With respect to the other, non-union employees, the City has traditionally treated them in the same manner as the negotiated positions of the union employees. I think this is a reasonable and prudent position for the City to have. As a manager of an office, I know to avoid the insidious dysfunction that can result from disparate treatment of employees. There probably is no surer way to accelerate the unionization of the remainder of Rockville’s employees than to treat similarly situated staff in a different manner. Accordingly, the COLA applied to all city staff, including the non-union employees, with the non-union employees eligible for a merit-based increase ranging from 0 to 3.25% . Thus, the total approved compensation increase resulted in a budget item that could reach $1.7 million.

In public pronouncements, Councilmember Anne Robbins and Mr. Randy Alton have put those of us who voted for these compensation increases to task for ignoring the economic hardships of residents and failing to apply some unwritten rule to replicate the County’s budget decisions. In a disingenuous sleight-of-hand, Ms. Robbins pledges fidelity to the union contracts but denounces the $1.7 million, of which the union contracts are a significant part.

The argument that we should have acted in strict solidarity with the County is curious. With no scrutiny whatsoever over the County budget process, Ms. Robbins and Mr. Alton herald its results as the model for Rockville. Not being privy to that decisionmaking process, however, I could not impose its results on Rockville. I do know that the County had instituted high compensation increases in past years which proved to be unsustainable in this economic environment, a primary reason that increases in the County had to be curtailed. Rockville did not show solidarity with the County then either (nor was there any call for such solidarity), preferring to maintain moderate increases. For these reasons, I preferred to maintain compensation and allow certain capital projects to be deferred to reach a balanced budget.

Most troubling and disquieting is Ms. Robbins’ and Mr. Alton’s seeming willingness to incite retaliation from the County and the State to punish Rockville for its independent decisionmaking.

With respect to economic hardship, there is no question that certain of our friends and neighbors are adversely impacted in this downturn. To alleviate economic dislocations, however, an across the board property tax rate reduction would not be the most productive use of City funds, nor would it necessarily achieve its intended goal. Because it would be applied to all taxpayers on a proportionate basis, the unintended consequence would be to provide a greater benefit to those with high real estate value. Put differently, strained City resources would be used to benefit those who probably need such benefit the least. Better to focus resources on the populations who are most affected by the economic situation. For this reason, the approved budget (i) expands the income (up to $85,000) and assessed value (up to $400,000) parameters for eligibility for the Homeowners Tax Credit program, (ii) maintain the additional tax credit relief for seniors, (iii) provides a $100 rebate to residential property owners, and (iv) significantly increases the allocated funds for nonprofit organizations providing much-needed social services to Rockville citizens.

Ms. Robbins and Mr. Alton focus on the issue of six-figure salaries as if all City staff earn $100,000 or more. Even a cursory look at the data shows that their focus is misplaced. Of the 555 full time employees, 35 receive a regular salary of $100,000 or more in the current fiscal year. In fact, the median salary for City employees is $54,400 – obviously, most are not the top managers who are the favored targets to excoriate and well more than half fall below the income criterion of $85,000 that the Mayor and Council have deemed warrants financial assistance. Our staff are the people who run our offices, work for our parks and recreation programs, collect the trash from our homes, operate our computer systems, coordinate our community planning, provide the engineering services that maintain our water and environmental systems, and respond to our calls for help ranging from animal control services to public safety. I am always troubled that municipalities’ first reaction to economic stress is to cut salaries and positions — the low-hanging fruit of any budget process.

I ask voters not to succumb to the falsely alluring refrains of those who stir the pot of civic discord. Mr. Alton’s mantra is to “Remember in November” and send those of us who supported the compensation increase “packing”. This is unfortunate. Single issue campaigns limit valuable and diverse public discourse and rarely contribute positively to the public weal.

I will adopt Mr. Alton’s refrain for November, albeit slightly modified — when you vote, and I hope many do so, REMEMBER to rely on all the facts and circumstances of an issue, REMEMBER the context of certain votes and positions, REMEMBER the analyses and consequences of alternative action, and REMEMBER the overall contributions to the community of the elected official and not just focus on a certain incident. If, in the end, a voter feels the need to “send someone packing,” so be it, and I will take solace in the fact that such voter did so in an informed manner. This is after all a democracy – a system that can only thrive through a continuously involved and fully informed citizenry.

John Britton
Rockville City Council

This contributor opinion is by Council Member John Britton.

This is a contributor opinion. Rockville Central encourages readers to submit such opinions for consideration — the more voices the better. We especially welcome people who disagree with us. We ask that all such contributions be civil and we reserve the right to edit (in consultation with the author) or reject. Contributor opinions should not be seen as reflecting opinions held by Rockville Central editors, as they are just as frequently at odds with our own views. That’s the whole point!

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