While some Coloradans are seeing their wages cut in response to the economic downturn, a review of state salaries shows state employees are better off.
About 6 percent better off.
That’s the gist of a critical look at the way Colorado sets salaries for its state employees. It says state employees on average make 6 percent more than workers who do the same jobs in the private sector or other governments.
But state officials say such salary comparisons don’t take into account total compensation, including benefits. When those contributions are factored in, state officials believe the disparity will shrink to approximately 2 percent.
The survey has prompted — and rightly so — pledges from state Department of Personnel and Administration officials to rethink salary setting procedures.
That’s a good starting point. While we don’t at all begrudge state employees making a decent wage, it’s important that officials have comprehensive data in hand when they’re forced to take a critical look at Colorado’s sagging budget numbers.
Rich Gonzales, the personnel department’s executive director, tells us he is amenable to changing how his office does salary comparisons, including a more thorough calculation of state compensation.
In future computations, the state ought to consider more than only salary and group benefits, such as the state contribution to health insurance coverage.
We think contributions the state makes to PERA, the Public Employees’ Retirement Association fund, should be factored in as well.
It is a generous benefit and one that is highly valued by employees.
For most public employees, PERA is a substitute for Social Security. While eligible employees are working, they contribute a fixed percentage of their salary to retirement trust funds, as does their employer.
The state PERA contribution for most general state government employees is about 10 percent of their annual salaries. That adds up to real money.
We think such an expense ought to be part of any meaningful evaluation of compensation.
Furthermore, there ought to be a closer parsing of the numbers. While some salaries might seem comparitively high — for instance, state troopers were found to make 16 percent more than the market average — others are low.
The audit, which is done every four years, has raised important questions for the state to answer.
Gonzales said the audit offered good information as his office looks to refine the way it compares state compensation with that of the market.
Salaries for 62,000 full-time equivalent employees made up $4.6 billion of the state’s $19.6 billion budget in 2008. That’s 23 percent of the budget, which isn’t exactly small change.
Ensuring that compensation is fairly set is a complicated process.
It’s also a crucial part of fiscal responsibility as tanking state revenues have forced state legislators to look for every way under the sun to balance the budget.
