Both Richardson and Maddox say there is nothing they could have done about the five-digit raises because the City’s Charter prohibits commissioner “interference” with personnel matters.

However, the challengers are not buying the explanation.

In an exclusive interview with TR, Maddox challengers Dr. Bruce Strouble and Luther Lee both said they see it differently than Maddox.

Maddox told the Tallahassee Democrat that under the city charter, commissioners can’t “second guess the workings of the appointed officials” but can hire and fire them.

Dr. Bruce Strouble told TR, “based on my detailed review of the City of Tallahassee Charter, I can find no language that expresses that the City Commission is prohibited from reviewing and suggesting appropriate salaries for the City Staff.”

He added that while the staff are well qualified, “I do not believe that the amount of the raises given was justified” and as a City Commissioner “I would have called for an independent review to determine more appropriate salaries.”

Luther Lee told TR the City Charter says “The city manager shall be responsible to the city commission for the proper administration of all affairs of the city…SO, it is not a ‘hands off’ rule. The Commissioners have a duty to serve the citizens of Tallahassee and part of that duty includes responsible use of tax dollars.”

Lee added that “While the people who received raises may be hardworking and deserving of fair pay,…These raises do not seem to be in the best interest of the citizens of Tallahassee.”

Last week City Commissioner Curtis Richardson and challenger Steven Hougland squared off on WFSU’s public affairs show, Perspectives. Richardson stated the City Charter kept him from addressing the raises but said the increases were “certainly reasonable.”

Also, in a debate on Facebook over the raises, City Commissioner Richardson wrote  “the commission had no vote on this according to the city charter.”

His challenger, Steven Hougland told TR he believes the City Charter would have allowed commissioners to give more direction to the City Manager with regards to the reorganization, but “it was clear they were not interested.”

So who is right? Does the City Charter limit the commissioner discretion on the recent pay raises?

TR is seeking legal guidance, but it is important to report that neither Maddox or Richardson, in their public statements, have said that City Attorney Lew Shelley advised them on this matter.

In the discussion about the raises, which in some cases were between $30,000 and $50,000, Hougland said Commissioner Richardson should have asked questions, but instead remained quiet and approved the raises.

Richardson responded by saying “I don’t apologize for anything we have done.”

Richardson went on to say that “I think the City Manager did a fantastic job” in implementing the staff reorganization. After seeing the City Manager’s presentation, Richardson told Mr. Flanigan, I believe the raises “were certainly reasonable.”

Hougland said “it concerns me when we are handing out raises that exceed the average annual family income in Tallahassee.”

Hougland also brought up the fact that the raises for the 16 employees were recommended by an employee that was actually receiving a raise. Hougland said he would have asked for an independent review.

Richardson ended the discussion by saying he had complete confidence in the City staff and that the voters will ultimately decide if the raises were in the best interest of the City of Tallahassee.

Tallahassee Reports journalist, Karen Murphy, has completed a profile on this race which will be posted tomorrow afternoon.

Over the last two weeks, Fernandez has faced criticism in the local media and on the message boards over the 5-digit raises that put some city employees at “breathtaking” levels of annual salaries. However, Fernandez faced no such criticism from the people that hired him a little more than a year ago.

But do not think for a minute this meeting was ever going to be a true question and answer session over a controversial issue. No, this theatrical production was scripted and planned in separate, private meetings between the Commissioners and Mr.Fernandez.

In his presentation, Fernandez disarmed the Commissioners by apologizing for the roll out of raises, not the substance, and then the Commissioners had their say.

The love-fest began with City Commissioner Scott Maddox, who had only days before told the Tallahassee Democrat editorial board he did not agree with the raises and would ask questions at the meeting – he failed to do so. Instead, he said Fernandez gave the raises “based on good information.”

City Commissioner Curtis Richardson, after the City Manager’s presentation, exclaimed “this is good stuff.”

In fact, not one Commissioner asked a probing question. The Commissioners accepted as fact everything the City Manager said, despite obvious inconsistencies.

For example, Fernandez admitted what TR reported last week, the City’s own pay study did not support the $175,000 salary for three assistant City Managers. Despite the numbers, Fernandez told the Commissioners that he gave out the high annual salaries to maintain “organizational equity.”

And the Commissioners offered no resistance.

City Commissioner Ziffer declined any inquiry and stated, “some of our folks were not quite at the level they should have been.”

Commissioner Nancy Miller, who has family on the City’s payroll, provided an incoherent comment that generated laughter among those who understood the insider reference.

Mayor Andrew Gillum said “I support you 1000%!”

In addition to the organizational equity argument, Fernandez talked about the 10 management positions that were “eliminated” and saved $900,000 as support for his decision.

However, earlier reports indicate only four positions were eliminated. Were some of those positions just shifted to other city government jobs? The question was never asked.

Ultimately, this kind of performance – no questions, no concerns – highlights the fact that the City elected officials do not represent the interests of ordinary citizens and have no desire to question the bureaucracy, known as “City staff.”

TR will spend the coming months investigating why City Commissioners so often side with “City staff.”

Despite the fact that the City’s own pay study did not support the larger raises, not one City Commissioner questioned the increases that reached $50,000 for one position.

City Manager Rick Fernandez apologized for the way the raises were presented and explained that organizational efficiencies and increased responsibilities supported the raises.

The raises mean that one manager will make approximately $185,000 and five other managers will earn $175,000 per year. The raises are retroactive back to January.

On the tax front, the City Commissioners voted 3-2 to cut property taxes by approximately $1 million, which translates to a 2.3% decrease. The same vote included the elimination of the business tax in 2018. The business tax generates approximately $2 million on an annual basis.

The vote was not supported by Mayor Gillum and Commissioner Nancy Miller. Gillum and Miller supported the business tax cut, but opposed the property tax decrease.

The City Commission voted to raise property taxes by approximately 13% last year.

Surprisingly, the numbers reported in the study do not support the majority of the pay raises.

This report addresses only the Assistant City Manager (ACM) position. Future reports will address other positions.

Last week TR broke the story on the executive level pay raises doled out by City Manager Rick Fernandez, which in some cases exceeded $40,000 per employee.

The Tallahassee Democrat reported that, “The salaries started off as recommendations from the city’s Human Resources and Workforce Development department, which conducted a market rate study ordered by Fernandez. City staff studied government and utility salaries in cities like West Palm Beach, Gainesville and Lakeland, among others. They also studied salaries at public utilities.”

Commissioner Gil Ziffer told the Democrat that “When Mr. Fernandez first presented the increases a few months ago, he was very clear the salaries in question were comparable to counterparts in similar-sized city governments around the state. I trust his judgment.”

What does the City’s “market rate study” reveal”?

Assistant City Managers

It is important to note that the City’s “market rate study” does not take into account the impact of experience on the reported salaries. For example, the salaries of the two ACM’s in Gainesville are between $135,000 and $145,000. However, TR learned that both ACM’s have been in the position for eight years. All of the City of Tallahassee ACM’s are new to the position.

Also, the “market rate study” does not take into account the impact of positions being publicly advertised. For example, Lakeland currently has an open ACM position that was advertised and reports indicate that approximately 100 applications were received for consideration. Lakeland pays their ACM’s like Gainesville, between $135,ooo and $145,000. None of the City of Tallahassee ACM positions were advertised.

Now the numbers.

City Manager Rick Fernandez promoted and gave raises to three ACM’s. Each of the ACM’s is now making $175,000. This means that the City of Tallahassee is paying $525,000 for three ACM’s with an average salary of $175,000.

The first two columns in the table below is based on information from the City’s “market rate study”. The last two columns, “ACM Positions” and “Total ACM Salary” were added by TR after reviewing organization charts and talking to officials in the comparable cities.

The average salaries of the comparable group of cities in the pay study is $152,783. The average of the Tallahassee ACM’s is $175,000, or 14.5% higher than the average of the comparable group.

Note that the addition of West Palm Beach has a substantial impact on the comparable group average, given the high salary? Also, why was Lakeland not included? Unlike West Palm Beach, Lakeland runs an electric utility and has the same political structure as the City of Tallahassee.

Even with West Palm Beach in the comparable group, the “market rate study” indicates the recent raises for the ACM positions are not comparable with average salaries of ACM’s in the comparable group.

What about the claim that the ACM’s have accepted more responsibilities and therefore deserve the higher salaries?

Research by TR found that none of the comparable cities have more than two ACM’s. The City of Tallahassee has three. These numbers are reflected in the “ACM Positions” column.

The third column provides the total annual salary paid to ACM’s. The comparable group averages total pay for ACM’s equal to $276,781. The City of Tallahassee pays $525,000. That is 89.9% higher than the comparable group.

These findings raise questions about City Manager Rick Fernendez’s claim  that all of the officials have taken on “higher-level” responsibilities as a result of the reorganization. Are other cities in the comparable group doing more with less managers? Why does Tallahassee need three ACM’s”?

Our next report will look at the other positions and how they compare to salaries in comparable cities.

These findings contradict the assertion by City Manager Rick Fernandez that the substantial increases in salaries were justified based on comparable positions in city governments that included Gainesville and Lakeland.

TR asked for and received salary information for the assistant city manager position in the cities of Gainesville and Lakeland earlier today.

The information shows that Gainesville has two assistant city managers that have an annual salary of $136,000 and $141,000. Both employees have been in the assistant city manager positions for 8 years.

The City of Lakeland has a deputy city manager that has an annual salary of makes $132,600 and has been on the job for two-months and an assistant city manager position that is vacant. The vacant position is being advertised with a salary range between $85,000 and $158,000 per year. Based on press reports, over 100 people have applied for the position.

In contrast, the City of Tallahassee has three assistant city managers who each have a salary of $175,000 and a deputy city manager with a salary of $185,000. All of the employees are new to their positions and none were advertised.

The press release detailed the increase in positions for public safety and also mentioned the $500,000 allocated for street resurfacing.

However, one item she did not draw attention to was the $2.6 million allocated to a 3% pay raise for non-public safety related employees.

Research of past year budgets indicate that the City of Tallahassee has quietly approved pay raises for the last four years while other government entities have chosen to give pay raises less frequently over the same period.

As the debate over the proposed 2016 property tax begins to heat up, scrutiny of expenses has highlighted pay raises. But numbers are not easy to come by.

In fact, TR asked the City’s budget office for the total amount included in the 2016 budget for non-public safety pay raises and they said that they did not have that information.

Instead, they directed TR to the budget and described how to get the amount by locating and adding up 11 different numbers from different departments.

So TR added up the numbers for “salary enhancements” proposed for 2016 and came up with $2.683 million.

Then TR added up City expenditures for pay raises for 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015.

The annual pay raise expenditures from 2012-2016  for City of Tallahassee general employees is shown in the chart below. Before 2012, in 2010 and 2011, no pay raises were given to City employees.

The chart shows that the amount of expenditures for pay raises has been increasing since 2012. The amount proposed in 2016 is over twice as much as the raises provided in 2012.

Non-public safety City employees received a 1% raise effective October 1, 2011 and an additional 1% effective March 1, 2012.

The pay raises increased to 2.5% in FY 2013, 2.5%  in FY 2014, 2.5% in FY 2015 and now 3% has been proposed for FY 2016.

What is the impact of the City pay raises on the current budget debate and the proposed property tax increase?

It would appear that the $2.6 million salary enhancements proposed for 2016 has a direct impact on what revenue is needed to balance the budget, and therefore, impacts the level of property taxes.

Also, any pay raise has financial impacts beyond the year it was awarded.

For example, if the 2016 proposed $2.6 million in pay raises is approved, approximately $9.9 million in revenue will be required to pay for the cumulative effect of the general employee pay raises given since 2012.

What did other government entities do during this period?

Research indicates that Leon School Board employees did not get raises in 2012, but did get a 2% raise in 2013, no raise in 2014, and now are scheduled to get raises in 2015 and 2016.

At the time of the 2013 raise, Superintendent Pons told the Tallahassee Democrat, “We didn’t want to eliminate jobs in order to give pay increases. So, we made some tough decisions, but we all worked on it together, and we’ve gotten through this. We just appreciate what our employees have done for our school system.”

State government workers received pay raises in 2013 and before that, the last pay raise was a 3% increase in 2006.

TR is still waiting on information from Leon County government on their approved pay raises.

Several questions remain unanswered.

Why is the City not acknowledging the level and the impact of the pay raise policy implemented over the last four years on the current budget proposal?

Will any City Commissioners question the pay raises and their impact on the proposed budget before voting on the property tax increase?