City suspends plan allowing execs to stockpile credits for cash

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By Joanne Huist Smith, Staff Writer Updated 10:50 AM Wednesday, November 25, 2009

For three decades, city executives accumulated credit hours through an Executive Savings Plan they could cash in when leaving the city.

Former City Manager Rashad Young walked away with $58,894 when he resigned in October to take a job in North Carolina. His predecessor, James Dinneen, cashed in twice — $125,465 when he first retired in 2005, and $10,582 after he quit a second time in 2006.

Since 2005, the city has made just over $1 million in cash payouts from the plan to 17 employees who retired, quit or were fired. [List of payouts and current plan participants ]

In response to inquiries from the Dayton Daily News about the city’s executive compensation plan, City Manager Tim Riordan said he would suspend the payment of about $100,000 into a trust fund next year for 17 top employees. The city commission will vote on the action at its meeting today.

Under the plan, designed to attract and retain quality directors and managers, the city contributes an incentive equal to 4.6 percent of every executive’s salary annually. [Comparison of Dayton executive salaries with similar-sized cities ]

Riordan is calling for an independent review to re-evaluate the program, in place since 1979, to make sure it still fits today’s workplace.

Riordan said he thinks that it does, but believes it is “fair and reasonable” to re-evaluate it.

“As we’ve been going through the 2010 budget process, I have been looking at ways that our executive team can continue to set the tone and direction for the rest of the organization,” Riordan said. “In reviewing the separation program in response to Dayton Daily News questions, I decided this is one way to accomplish that for 2010.”

Riordan said the Executive Savings Plan was initially intended to save the city money by cutting the number of vacation days allotted executives in exchange for credit hours that accumulate with each month of service. The city supports the trust fund with biannual payments of $50,000 — which will be suspended beginning Jan. 1 — that accrue interest for employees.

Jim Mahoney, deputy director of the Ohio Municipal League, said he knows of no other city that has an executive plan like Dayton’s.

But, he said, “I’m big on home rule. If that’s what the city of Dayton wants to do, than that’s what the city of Dayton wants to do."

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2362 or josmith@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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