RPVCCA_CC_SR_2015_05_05_L_Letter_to_State_Controller_Emp_Comp_AnalysisA
CITY OF I RANCHO PALOS VERDES
MEMORANDUM
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR &CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS
FROM: KATHRYN DOWNS, ACTING DIRECTOR OF FINANCE 10
DATE: MAY 5, 2015
SUBJECT: LETTER TO STATE CONTROLLER'S OFFICE
REGARDING EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION ANALYSIS
(Supports 2014 City Council Goal of Government
Efficiency, Accountability, Fiscal Control,
Transparency and Oversight)
REVIEWED: DOUG WILLMORE, CITY MANAGER Ml'V
RECOMMENDATION
Authorize the Mayor to sign a letter addressed to the State Controller's Office and other
elected officials suggesting that the state adopt the Rancho Palos Verdes Employee
Compensation & Benefits Analysis as the model for required reporting from all local
government agencies.
BACKGROUND & DISCUSSION
The City prepared an Employee Compensation & Benefits Analysis (the "Analysis") for
calendar years 2013 and 2014. The Analysis presents total compensation for every
employee who worked at the City during the calendar year. Total compensation includes
all forms of pay (wages, allowances, overtime, etc.), and all forms of City -paid benefits
(pension contribution, health insurance, retirement health savings, etc.).
On March 3, 2015, the City Council requested preparation of a letter addressed to the SCO
suggesting that the state adopt the City's Analysis as the model for required employee
compensation reporting from all local government agencies.
On March 17, 2015, the City Council directed Mayor Pro -Tem Brooks and Councilman
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LETTER TO STATE CONTROLLER'S OFFICE REGARING EMPLOYEE
COMPENSATION ANALYSIS
May 5, 2015
Page 2 of 2
Duhovic to prepare a revised version of the draft letter (see Attachment A). Staff
recommends the City Council approve the revised version of the letter.
Attachment
A — Draft letter to State Controller's Office and other elected officials regarding employee
compensation analysis.
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May 6, 2015
Honorable Ms. Betty T. Yee
California State Controller
P.O. Box 942850
Sacramento, CA. 94250-5872
Re: Government Compensation Analysis
Dear Ms. Yee:
In the spirit of helping all California cities achieve full and complete transparency with
respect to public employee compensation and benefits, on behalf of the City Council of
Rancho Palos Verdes, I am requesting that your Office examine the expansive reporting
methodologies adopted and employed by the City for the reporting of compensation and
benefits costs. We are keenly aware and appreciative of the extensive efforts and
mandates that your office, and that of your predecessor, have put into place thus far in an
attempt to ensure greater transparency and ease of research. However, to address the
public's concerns regarding public employee compensation and benefits, our City Council
believes your efforts could be significantly bolstered by embracing and ultimately
mandating reporting requirements in line with those adopted by Rancho Palos Verdes.
For your review and consideration, I have taken the liberty of attaching the 2013 and 2014
Compensation and Benefits Analysis documentation prepared by our Finance Department,
which clearly, definitively and completely illustrates the total compensation received by all
City of Rancho Palos Verdes employees.
By way of background, this City Council firmly believes that our citizens have a right to full
transparency with respect to all public information, including the wages and benefits
received by City employees and elected officials. To that end, salary range and benefit
information has been available on the City's website for a number of years. In late 2010,
the City added a section on the Home Page of our website, which provides links to these
documents from a single location, as well as a link to the California State Controller's
Office website, which as you know displays compensation information for all cities and
agencies in the state, including Rancho Palos Verdes.
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City of Rancho Palos Verdes
State Controller Government Compensation Analysis
Page 2 of 3
In 2013, the City Council requested that the City's independent financial auditor, Vavrinek,
Trine, Day & Co., LLP, conduct additional Agreed Upon Procedures related to the City
Manager's salary and benefits for calendar year 2012. The purpose of this additional
review procedure was to determine the City's compliance with its policies and procedures
for employee compensation and benefits, beginning at the top with the City Manager. The
results, which were reported to the City Council in October 2013, verified that the City was
in full compliance and there were no exceptions noted.
In light of these results, and in order to provide greater transparency for the public
regarding the compensation and benefits received by all City employees, the City Council
directed the independent auditor to again test the City Manager's salary and benefits for
calendar year 2013, and additionally to test a sample of 20 employees (which sample
included all senior managers and approximately 10% of non -management employees).
Furthermore, the City Council directed City Staff to prepare an Employee Compensation
and Benefits Analysis for all full-time and part-time employees for calendar year 2013.
In January 2014, the independent auditor reported to the City Council that their work was
completed and the results noted no exceptions. In addition, the City Council was provided
with the results of the 2013 Employee Compensation and Benefits Analysis, as validated
by the independent auditor. The Compensation and Benefits Analysis
schedule/spreadsheet (which is interactive for the use and review by any interested party,
but primarily and specifically our residents), includes every full-time and part-time
employee, by job title, who worked for the City in 2013, and lists all actual wages (not
merely the Medicare taxable income (from box 5 of an employee's W-2) which is currently
the standard required by your Office) to be reported, including salary, overtime pay, and
bonuses. It also includes City contributions to all benefits, such as health insurance and
pension costs, for each employee. In addition, the analysis includes an accounting of all
leave time, including vacation, sick, and holiday leave earned during 2013.
Early this year, the City Council requested that an Employee Compensation and Benefits
Analysis be conducted for calendar year 2014. Again, this document is included for your
review.
While it is our hope that this City Council, and those elected in the future, continue to
unilaterally require this comprehensive analysis on an annual basis, it is our goal, in the
spirit of full and complete transparency for all cities, to have your Office mandate that each
city and agency in the State of California report compensation and benefits costs using the
Rancho Palos Verdes template as a minimum reporting standard.
Thank you for your time and consideration, and for your continued efforts to bring greater
openness and transparency with respect to public employee compensation and benefits.
We hope our template will be seen as a model going forward, for presenting the most
complete compensation and benefits analysis possible. This will ensure that the public will
be better informed as to how their tax dollars are being expended in terms of public
employee compensation and benefits.
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City of Rancho Palos Verdes
State Controller Government Compensation Analysis
Page 3 of 3
My fellow Councilmembers and I are available, at your discretion, to discuss our impetus
for having delved more deeply into the world of public employee compensation. We are
also available to answer any questions you or your staff may have and would be happy to
collaborate with your office as you see fit.
Sincerely,
Jim Knight
Mayor
Attachment:
■ 2013 City of Rancho Palos Verdes Employee Compensation & Benefits Analysis
■ 2014 City of Rancho Palos Verdes Employee Compensation & Benefits Analysis
cc: State Controller Yee (Los Angeles Address)
Governor Jerry Brown
State Senator Ben Allen
Assemblyman David Hadley
Supervisor Don Knabe
League of California Cities
California Contract Cities Association
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
The Daily Breeze Editor
Rancho Palos Verdes City Council
Mr. Doug Willmore, Rancho Palos Verdes City Manager
Ms. Carolynn Petru, Rancho Palos Verdes Deputy City Manager
Ms. Kathryn Downs, Rancho Palos Verdes Acting Finance Director
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