The bottom line for Manteca municipal employees who faced layoffs or compensation cuts was how the city crafted the reduction.
City Manager Steve Pinkerton followed the directive of the council to make the reduction proposal as painless as possible on current paychecks that the 350 remaining municipal employees receive. Council also wanted to find a way to avoid layoffs – if at all possible – while keeping servcie levels as high as possible.
That was accomplished in part by asking employee groups to forgo negotiated raises of 4 percent annually in 2010 and 2011. The same employees already gave the city back 3.7 percent of their compensation when they agreed earlier this year to unpaid furloughs starting July 1 that most will take Thanksgiving week and between Christmas and New Year’s Day
With $3.5 million left to cut as the remaining part of a $14 million deficit, more concessions were needed That’s when employees who received delayed compensation were asked to give that up and others who receive uniform allowances were asked to do the same for two years.
The last piece of the puzzle was having employees contribute more to their retirement out of their current pay checks. The amount varied based on the bargaining group as the Public Employment Retirement System (PERS) has different rules for various job functions.
Some, though, had it taken out of health benefits.
The bottom line was the amount the employees were being asked was “pre-tax” which meant if they were asked to pay a set amount of the city’s PERS contribution. Since it is pre-tax, the amount being paid reduces the employees’ taxable income which makes the actual out-of-pocket hit less. It works the same as a 401K does when it comes to taxable income.
Only base salary is impacted by PERS so any overtime that may be paid isn’t impacted.
Eight of the city’s nine bargaining groups have agreed to the terms.
The last holdout is the Manteca Police Officers Association who have until Saturday to make a decision. That’s when 16 layoff notices go into effect. If the MPOA agrees to the same terms as other employee groups, the layoffs will be rescinded.
Even if the MPOA fees Manteca will still have to cut another $700,000 from the budget to balance it this fiscal year. The remaining savings are expected to come from additional one-time cuts. That after over $9 million was whacked from the budget through reorganization, early retirements and thee city changing how it delivers public services.
Much of it was accomplished by not filling around 50 positions that have been left vacant. About 85 percent of the city’s general fund expenses are tied up in labor costs.
City Manager Steve Pinkerton followed the directive of the council to make the reduction proposal as painless as possible on current paychecks that the 350 remaining municipal employees receive. Council also wanted to find a way to avoid layoffs – if at all possible – while keeping servcie levels as high as possible.
That was accomplished in part by asking employee groups to forgo negotiated raises of 4 percent annually in 2010 and 2011. The same employees already gave the city back 3.7 percent of their compensation when they agreed earlier this year to unpaid furloughs starting July 1 that most will take Thanksgiving week and between Christmas and New Year’s Day
With $3.5 million left to cut as the remaining part of a $14 million deficit, more concessions were needed That’s when employees who received delayed compensation were asked to give that up and others who receive uniform allowances were asked to do the same for two years.
The last piece of the puzzle was having employees contribute more to their retirement out of their current pay checks. The amount varied based on the bargaining group as the Public Employment Retirement System (PERS) has different rules for various job functions.
Some, though, had it taken out of health benefits.
The bottom line was the amount the employees were being asked was “pre-tax” which meant if they were asked to pay a set amount of the city’s PERS contribution. Since it is pre-tax, the amount being paid reduces the employees’ taxable income which makes the actual out-of-pocket hit less. It works the same as a 401K does when it comes to taxable income.
Only base salary is impacted by PERS so any overtime that may be paid isn’t impacted.
Eight of the city’s nine bargaining groups have agreed to the terms.
The last holdout is the Manteca Police Officers Association who have until Saturday to make a decision. That’s when 16 layoff notices go into effect. If the MPOA agrees to the same terms as other employee groups, the layoffs will be rescinded.
Even if the MPOA fees Manteca will still have to cut another $700,000 from the budget to balance it this fiscal year. The remaining savings are expected to come from additional one-time cuts. That after over $9 million was whacked from the budget through reorganization, early retirements and thee city changing how it delivers public services.
Much of it was accomplished by not filling around 50 positions that have been left vacant. About 85 percent of the city’s general fund expenses are tied up in labor costs.
