Watchdog Report | Digging into San Diego's finances

City's payroll surged in '08

San Diego is in a constant financial crisis. Why did it pay its city employees millions more last year?

By Eleanor Yang Su and Craig Gustafson, STAFF WRITERS, and AgustÃ*n Armendariz, STAFF DATA SPECIALIST
2:00 a.m. June 28, 2009
(Aaron Steckelberg / Union-Tribune) -

THE SERIES
Today: The city's payroll shot up $41 million last year, even as the mayor confronted a budget shortfall and pledged to rein in spending.
Tomorrow: Thousands of city employees receive special payouts and unusual benefits that are pushing personnel expenses higher than ever.
Tuesday: Pay for city employees has grown increasingly top-heavy in the past several years. One out of eight workers took home at least $100,000 last year.
Online: Search a database of the city's payroll at http://data.uniontrib.com/ san-diego/payroll/.
Online: Find other Union-Tribune Watchdog Reports at http://www3.signonsandiego. com/news/metro/watchdog

San Diego's payroll ballooned by $41 million last year, fueled by unpublicized payouts, labor settlements and costly benefits, an analysis by The San Diego Union-Tribune has found.

The increase belies rhetoric by both union leaders and Mayor Jerry Sanders about frozen salaries and labor cost reductions.

Employee compensation grew by 6 percent last year, nearly twice the average salary increase for local and state government employees nationwide, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Private industry salary increases averaged 2.6 percent.

The newspaper analyzed salary, overtime and other compensation paid to each of the city's 12,000 full-time, part-time and seasonal workers. The data, obtained through a California Public Records Act request, showed:

About 80 percent of city employees took home more money in 2008 than the previous year.

Nearly 900 employees received pay increases exceeding 10 percent last year. About 1,400 workers saw double-digit increases when overtime was factored in.

The proportion and number of city employees making at least $100,000 have almost tripled in the past six years. Thirteen percent of the payroll is in this top category.

Last year's $41 million boost in payroll was more than the increases of the past four years added together. It was equivalent to the city giving an additional $3,400 to each employee.

It helps put into perspective the $43 million in wage and benefit reductions that will take effect July 1 to address a budget gap. Sanders portrays the 6 percent reductions as historic and difficult, yet the savings are about the same as last year's growth in payroll.

Throughout his three years as mayor, Sanders has trumpeted “tough fiscal discipline.â€