From: The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer
Organizations
Contact: Susan Kniep, President
Website: http://ctact.org/
Email: fctopresident@aol.com
Telephone: 860-841-8032
TAX TALK
MAY 20, 2010
Connecticut Taxpayers Owe a Special Thank You to the
Republican American Newspaper of Waterbury
for the following article…..
Connecticut's wage gap: A special report
Find out what state workers make
http://www.rep-am.com/news/local/482019.txt
BY GEORGE KRIMSKY
AND PAUL HUGHES | REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
While Connecticut's
population has been virtually stagnant for the past four decades, the cost of
state government has nearly quadrupled.
The ability of taxpayers to pay for it has not.
As the gap between Connecticut's
public and private sectors continues to widen, the Great Recession has brought
this reality into stark relief. Even though the state faces a projected budget
deficit of $3.8 billion by 2012, the state work force remains largely intact,
secure and well paid, while employment and compensation in business and
industry have declined precipitously.
Personnel costs basically are off limits when cutting the state budget,
protected by union contracts and strong political muscle.
The state work force has dropped 4 percent since the recession took hold in
late 2008, with early departures rewarded with retirement incentives.
Meanwhile, the private work force has lost more than 100,000 jobs, or about 8
percent of its total, and only one in six workers received retirement benefits,
according to statewide estimates.
The average annual salary of a state employee in 2009 was $65,830, 37 percent
higher than the average in Connecticut's
civilian sector, which the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics reports as $47,739.
Union leaders argue the private sector should devote its energy to achieving
its own level of security and compensation, instead of trying to deprive state
workers.
"Even if you laid off everyone (in state employment), it still wouldn't
take care of the deficit, and you wouldn't have anyone left to serve the
public," contends Eric Bailey, communication director for one of Connecticut's biggest
unions, AFT, which represents nearly 20 percent of state employees.
Taxpayer advocates contend the state must live within its means — spend no more
than it collects in revenue. Connecticut faces
bankruptcy "if it doesn't bring down the cost and size of the state work
force," warns Susan Kniep, former mayor of East Hartford and now president
of the Federation of Connecticut
Taxpayer Organizations.
Question: Which New England
state pays the most to its employees?
Answer: Connecticut
Connecticut pays its state employees, on
average, 23 percent more than any other New England state, according to U.S. Census
Bureau data. Only in sparsely populated Vermont
does it cost more per resident to support the state work force.
In the Northeast overall, only New Jersey paid
a higher average annual salary to its state employees in 2009 — $66,690 to Connecticut's $65,830.
The hourly wage rate for Connecticut's
government workers was at least $5 higher here than anywhere in the Northeast
at $35.23 per hour, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
That's an average $9.17 hourly wage gap between the state's private and public
sectors.
The cost per resident to employ a state worker, $1,063, was the second highest
in New England.
Connecticut's
precise state employment count is elusive. It has been a long-standing joke in Hartford that "no
one knows (exactly) how many people work for the state," said Steven
Jensen, communications director for the state comptroller's office, which cuts
the state checks. The state work force has always been fluid, largely because
temporary employment numbers go up and down, and no single agency keeps all
personnel data.
Counting those who receive benefits as full employees, the state roster numbers
53,450 workers, receiving in 2009 a total of $3.91 billion, including benefits.
But, the state actually paid out $4.13 billion to 77,759 persons, a work force
that has grown by 36 percent in the past 25 years.
The total payout included one-time payments for consultants and hourly wages
for temporary workers who do not receive benefits, according to data released
by the state comptroller's office.
Question: What is the most secure job in the
state of Connecticut?
Answer: Working for the state.
Connecticut's public sector has not been immune to the recession, but the
economy's bite was far worse on private industry.
State government lost 2 percent of what the private sector lost since the
recession hit two years ago. The 2,100 state jobs lost carried early retirement
packages, with lifetime pensions for employees. Only 17 percent of more than
100,000 private workers laid off since 2008 received postretirement
remuneration.
Most of Connecticut's
state employees agreed to a freeze on raises last year. In exchange, the
government promised no more layoffs for two years.
Critics say reducing the state payroll is the best way to reduce a deficit
headed into the billions, but the prospects for that look dim, after Gov. M.
Jodi Rell failed last month to get agreement from the legislature for more job
reductions.
"It's extraordinarily more secure in the state sector," said Peter
Gioia, head of research for the Connecticut
Business & Industry Association. Private business and the nonprofit sector,
he said, "can get rid of anyone, but it's a convoluted maze to get rid of
someone in state government."
Responding to Gov. M. Jodi Rell's call for belt-tightening last year, most
state employee unions agreed to take a pay freeze in exchange for protection
against layoffs. The freeze saved $750 million, but it barely diluted the red
ink.
"That was a good deal for the unions," said Robert P. Valentine,
first selectman in Goshen,
which doesn't have any unions and where the municipal budget has decreased for
each of the past three years.
"There's no incentive at the state level to economize," said
Valentine, a Republican. "We have voluntarily made sacrifices, because we
get it," he said of the current recession. "The state doesn't get
it."
State workers cannot be easily fired, thanks to contractual protections
obtained by more than 30 bargaining units that represent nearly all
non-management positions, from administrative assistants to zoologists. Only
public school teachers, technically paid by the municipalities but subsidized
by the state, enjoy as much security.
Lt. Paul Vance, spokesman for the state police, where personnel costs account
for three-quarters of its budget, said fiscal critics tend to disregard the
nature of certain types of work that involve high stress and personal risk.
"People forget that we're on call 24 hours a day," he added. His
department's overtime budget alone last year was $22.5 million.
Other benefits enjoyed by the state sector:
A guaranteed base wage, plus yearly step increases, a Cost of Living Adjustment
(COLA) supplement, longevity pay, meal allowances, weekend bonuses and 1.5
times the hourly rate for overtime. Managers do not receive overtime, but are
compensated with bonuses for performance and other benefits.
A "defined benefit" pension, with guaranteed monthly income, while
the private sector has largely moved to contribution plans, such as a 401(k),
without a guaranteed income and limited to the amount contributed.
Health and dental insurance extending into retirement.
Accrued vacation and sick time
Editors Howard Fielding and David Krechevsky assisted in the compilation of
data for this report.
Top 50 Base Pay vs Actual Pay
**********************
MORE, MUCH
MORE ON WHERE YOUR STATE TAX DOLLARS ARE BEING SPENT…..
Top 50 Base Pay vs Actual Pay
Pay Portrait for 3 Connecticut State
Agencies
State Operating Costs pie chart
Private Sector or State Of
Connecticut: Who pays more?
Comparing State Employee Salaries in
the Northeast
WHAT THEY MADE: 2009 Connecticut
State Employee W2 Summary (2,181 pages, searchable by name)
WHAT THEY EARN: 2009 Connecticut State Employee Pay Rates
(1,244 pages, searchable by name)