NTF issue paper: douglascounty146.doc. 11-17.
NEBRASKA TAXPAYERS FOR FREEDOM ISSUE PAPER:
DOUGLAS COUNTY EMPLOYEES AWARDED INFLATIONARY WAGE INCREASES.
BACKGROUND. Each year, the Douglas County Board faces the problem of balancing its budget, because incoming revenues do not match county expenditures. One of the permanent problems causing this imbalance is the annual awarding by the County Board of inflationary wage and benefit increases to both union and non-union employees. Controlling these increases greatly will help balance the annual budget and allow additional spending on basic services.
THE FIRST ROUND. In November, 2017, the County Board voted 3% and 4% wage increases to union employees at the County Health Center (11-21-17 resolution approving labor contract with the Employees United Labor Association (EULA) union, representing covered employees within the Douglas County Health Center) and the same for non-union county employees to match union pay. Recall that this facility hemorrhages millions of dollars every year in cost overruns. These raises, proposed also for 2019 and 2020, range much above the Midwest Consumer Price Index inflation rate. County wage and benefit increases historically have set at levels above the increases in inflation and above raises dispensed in the private sector, therefore aggravating the budget gap each year. The county personnel dept. actually projected county union pay hikes at only 2.6%. Therefore, we urged in vain for Douglas County Commissioners to set wage hikes for the coming calendar year to match or approximate the rate of inflation for Midwest urban cities, 1.5% or projected increases publicized nationally. See chart below from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
COMPARISONS. NTF researched wage increases for 2018 and found that average wage hikes for public sector union employees ranged from 1.97% to 2.11%. Projected hikes for private sector employees ranged from 1.93% to 2.19%. In 2018, federal civilian employees will receive a 1.4% across-the-board pay increase, with an additional 0.5% bump for locality pay, for a total 1.9% raise. The pay plan also hikes pay of military employees by 2.1%. This county alarmingly bases its union wage hikes only on previous wage hikes, not comparing its offers with other counties of similar size.
https://www.bls.gov/regions/mountain-plains/news-release/ConsumerPriceIndex_Midwest.htm.
THE VOTES. Voting for this first round of 2018 3%-4% inflationary wage increases were Commissioners Borgeson, Cavanaugh, Duda, Kraft, Morgan, Rodgers. Voting for an 8% salary hike for the Deputy County Clerk were Commissioners Cavanaugh, Duda, Kraft, Rogers. Voting NO were Commissioners Borgeson and Morgan.
TAKE ACTION NOW. Contact your Douglas County Commissioner and demand that he/she vote for wage and benefit packages that are commensurate with those in similar counties. Email netaxpayers@gmail.com for contact information.