Sunday • December 16, 2001

County trades allowances for bonuses

By Darryl Richardson/Reporter Staff

Solano County government managers and their assistant managers lost one benefit this year, but gained another, which could provide additional compensation for some.

County department managers and their assistants will no longer receive money for automobile or business expenses. That money, instead, has been included in the county's new Management Incentive Program, passed by the Board of Supervisors in February to promote high quality performance.

Department managers could see a bonus of up to 15 percent of their base salary, while assistants can receive up to 10 percent.

Yolanda Irigon, the county's director of human resources, said the changes were made to make things easier and fairer for county officials.

"We made the changes so we didn't have to think about setting numbers for the car and business allowances," she said. "Now it is based on job performance."

Despite repeated inquiries, the county did not provide breakdowns on bonuses for managers, saying it would require too much time to review individual personnel files.

But to get an idea of how much the highest paid county employee could make - if he earned a 15 percent bonus - consider County Administrator Michael Johnson, who has a base pay of $177,272. A 15 percent raise would give him $26,590. That's a big difference from the $2,600 he brought in through his business allowance last year.

Of course if Johnson was awarded the minimal bonus - 2.5 percent - he would take home a mere $4,431.

For some managers, the bonus system could leave them with smaller paychecks.

Consider Veteran Services Director Bill Reardon whose base pay is $61,179. Last year he received $5,200 for auto and business allowance. If he receives a 15 percent bonus next year, he would earn $9,172. But, if he garners only a 2.5 percent bonus, the number falls to $1,530.

Johnson is in charge of all managers' performance reviews except his own, which comes from the Board of Supervisors.

The minimum bonuses included in The Reporter's salary survey this year are based on figures provided last year concerning automobile and business allowances. They ranged from $1,300 to $7,800.

For all county managers, excluding elected officials, Solano County spent $149,500 on business and auto allowances in 2000.

County officials will not see a decrease in salary this year, because the program was implemented during this year, explained the county administrator.

"For this year, we took their allowances from last year and used that as a base," Johnson said. "Because we want everyone to strive for the brass ring, we went ahead and did the performance evaluations. If we determined they were deserving of a bonus which would be more than their allowances, they got the greater number. If they deserved less, they still got what they got last year."

Beginning next year, department heads who do not perform up to expectations may not receive any bonus at all.

"Nobody lost anything this year, but that could change starting next year," Johnson said.

The performance bonus does not apply to elected officials, who will have their auto and business allowances rolled into their salaries.

For the first time, the salary survey includes information relating longevity pay. County managers who have at least 10 years of service receive a percentage of their base salary as a bonus. The bonus begins at 2.5 percent of base pay and increases with every five years of service, reaching a maximum of 15 percent of base salary after 35 years of service to the county.

Interestingly, the employee does not have to have been an employee of Solano County for the entire time to receive the bonus. Previous city or county experience, even outside Solano County, is included in the service time calculation.

The information provided by the county indicates only 10 of the 54 listed department managers or deputies do not receive the bonus. Of the 44 who did, two people, Supervisor John Silva and Assessor/Recorder Robert Blechschmidt, have more than 35 years of public service experience and received the maximum bonus. Most of the department heads listed received longevity bonuses of between 5 and 10 percent.

• Darryl Richardson can be reached at courts@thereporter.com