Posted on 01/19/2007 8:32:17 PM PST by NormsRevenge
SACRAMENTO
An arbitrator has ruled that state officials miscalculated wages and benefits for corrections employees, a mistake that will cost California taxpayers an estimated $440 million over two years and force cuts to other state departments.
The ruling, made public Friday, means the state will pay $200 million for back pay and health benefits to about 30,000 prison guards, probation officers and other correctional employees, retroactive to July 1, 2005.
In addition, the employees are due a 3.1 percent pay increase retroactive to the start of the year under a provision that ties their wages to those of other law enforcement agencies. Those raises will cost the state about $80 million in this year's budget and $160 million in the coming fiscal year.
"It's an enormous amount of money ... but they should have been paid all along," said Lance Corcoran, a spokesman for the California Correctional Peace Officers Association.
The unexpected costs will force state officials to revise the budget for this fiscal year and next. State reserves will absorb $153.5 million. An additional $46 million in cuts will be split among all state agencies to avoid pushing the state into deficit spending, said Department of Finance spokesman H.D. Palmer.
The continuing cost of the pay raises will be absorbed in future budgets.
Even with the revisions, the 2007-08 fiscal year budget proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will avoid an operating deficit, Palmer said.
The arbitrator's decision interprets provisions of a five-year contract negotiated by former Gov. Gray Davis.
That contract expired in July, but its provisions continue until a new contract is in place. Those negotiations have been sidetracked since November by talks over the arbitrator's decision.
Davis was criticized for accepting more than $3 million from the union for his 1998 and 2002 campaigns, including $251,000 two months after he signed the current contract. That prompted Schwarzenegger to swear off contributions from state employee unions as he ran to replace Davis during the 2003 recall election.
The contract originally was projected to cost $521 million when presented to lawmakers in January 2002, but Schwarzenegger's administration said the cost had grown to $2 billion.
The increase is because guards' wages are tied to local law enforcement salaries that rose more quickly than anticipated and because of contract interpretations that increased costs for sick pay, overtime and other expenses.
With the 3.1 percent raise, the base pay for a correctional officer will range from $60,576 to $68,780, depending on years of service. About 6,000 corrections officers now earn more than $100,000 a year including overtime, according to the state controller.
The prison guards union files significantly more grievances and seeks more arbitration than other state employee unions, said Lynelle Jolley, spokeswoman for the Department of Personnel Administration. But she said that may not be unusual given the large number of guards and the complexity of their contact.
A year ago, an arbitrator ruled in the guards' favor when the Schwarzenegger administration argued that union leaders were improperly being paid for time they spent on union business. The arbitrator's decision in that case was overturned by a state judge, but the union is appealing the decision.
On the Net:
California Correctional Peace Officers Association: http://www.ccpoa.org/
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation: http://www.corr.ca.gov/
Cooking the books, already ???
It's the remnants or should I say ramifications of the last deal Gray done with the guards union.
State employees and 'state officials' always penalize the taxpayers. CA is not unique but typical.
All the more more reason to outsource our prisons to Mexico. The California taxpayer will save a bundle and the Mexican Correctional Officers Association will strike a gold mine, even at 50¢ on the dollar. To a Mexican prison guard, a strating salalry of $30K/yr is a bonanza. Dental and health benefits would be nirvana.
Perhaps they could make up for it by cutting back on carbon dioxide?
Thanks, Gray. $500 million projected contract costs are up to $2 billion? That's not even remotely defensible.
Excellent idea! Not only would we be rid in the illegal alien felons, but they would also likely wind up serving their full sentences so long as we picked up the tab.
Ironic that Susan Kennedy was a key advisor to Davis when he signed off on the contract in question and is involved again. Maybe somebody will bother with the fine print this time around.
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