Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2008

Modesto weighs worker expenses

Plans target cost of custodians, cutting management leave

Modesto City Council members are eyeing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of budget cuts that could hit city employees in their paychecks.

The council's Finance Committee on Monday advanced several budget-trimming proposals, one of which could lead to the city laying off nine custodians and another that would slash a management perquisite offered to 298 employees.

The custodians are on the block because a private company submitted a bid to do their job at less than half the cost the city pays.

Pride Industries of Roseville would maintain 38 city buildings for $446,806. Modesto budgeted $1 million for that work this year.

The Modesto City Employees Association, a union that represents the custodians, tried to keep the work for its members by submitting a bid for about $1 million a year, MCEA President Tom McCarthy said.

He's trying to make sure the custodians get an opportunity to continue working for the city, possibly by moving to another department.

"We have excellent employees who enjoy working for Modesto, and we'd like to see them stay," McCarthy said.

The full City Council must approve Pride's bid for the company to take the contract.

Councilman Garrad Marsh said he'd like to see an option to adjust the contract so it gives some work to a private firm and keeps some tasks with city employees.

"It will give us more time to find spots for other employees," he said.

The custodian contract was one of three budget proposals that drew dozens of city employees to the two-hour Finance meeting.

The one that stirred the most discussion was aimed at reducing management and confidential leave. More than one in five Modesto employees gets that benefit, which allows them to take 20 to 112 hours of extra time off as compensation for long hours they're expected to pull in City Hall.

Seventy-two of those employees also are eligible for overtime pay. All 298 can cash out some or all of that leave at the end of each year.

Modesto would spend $465,662 if all of the employees cashed out their management leave. The city spent $236,011 on cashed-out management leave last year.

City Manager Greg Nyhoff has two goals regarding Modesto's management leave expenses. His first objective is to limit the amount of money employees can earn by cashing out unused management leave. His second is to decrease by half the number of employees getting the perquisite.

Both would take months to a year to work out with employees. Many of them are represented by the Modesto Confidential and Management Association. Others are unrepresented executives and attorneys.

Kim Gillingham, MCMA's labor representative, called management leave a cost-efficient benefit.

"This is a good deal for the city," she said, noting that most MCMA members work several hours of overtime each week.

Council members emphasized that they don't want employees to get management leave and overtime. Some get both because of a 2005 change in a labor law; others receive both because their contracts provide for the perks.

In other business, the committee heard an update on a plan to review the vehicle allowances Modesto provides to 38 employees. Twenty-four of them are executives who get car allowances as part of their compensation package; 14 receive them because they're expected to drive on city business frequently.

Bee staff writer Adam Ashton can be reached at aashton@modbee.com or 578-2366.