you must be kidding me:San Jose city salaries

Topics: Taxes
07 Mar 2007

From: Ervan Darnell


From Today's San Jose Mercury:

> San Jose spends 45 percent more on salaries and benefits for the
> average city worker than it did in 2000 - a growth rate roughly double
> the national averages for local government employees and workers in
> private industry. [....] According to those national averages, total
> compensation rose 21 percent for state and local government workers
> from 2000 through 2006 and 18 percent for private industry employees. [1]

What did you expect when competition is in effect outlawed and
"services" multiply without any direct constraint? Even more
interesting, they got away with this by hidden deficit spending, passing
the buck to future generations:

> Helping to fuel that steady climb have been new contracts with
> generous health care and retirement benefits. [ police officers now
> earn $141,000/year]

The real lesson here is that there should no "benefits" of employment at
all. Let employees buy their own insurance/401(k) so the amortized cost
is fully visible.

And, of course, city employees see only entitlement to themselves and
not service provided:

> Erik Larsen, president of the Municipal Employees Federation, the
> city's largest bargaining unit, said [...] "Your average city worker
> is barely keeping up with the high cost of living in the Santa Clara
> Valley,"
>
Yeah, so what? Private company salaries are lagging the
cost-of-living. Government employees get one anyway just because they
can use the force of tax collection. And, of course, the cost-of-living
is mostly the fault of housing prices which are mostly the fault of the
government for outlawing new housing. So, the people who created this
mess demand a salary increase sufficient to immunize themselves from
their own mistake (well, okay, I don't know what the zoning board
members themselves said).

If everyone got a COLA for every price increase, we'd be in an ugly
inflationary spiral in any case (damped by whatever percentage of output
is labor versus raw materials). To make that a "right" is ultimately
economic nonsense in any case as you are just chasing your tail.


[1] San Jose Mercury, 3/7/07, http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_5373001
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