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Dayton officials defend nearly $300,000 in pay hikes for managers, executives

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By Joanne Huist Smith, Staff Writer Updated 12:27 PM Tuesday, October 27, 2009

DAYTON — City of Dayton officials defended $292,350 in pay increases for managers and executives this year calling them equivalent to step increases given to union members, not a wage or merit raise. Some of the increases were retroactive to January and were approved by former City Manager Rashad Young.

Some 379 mid-managers, managers and executives received the 1.19 percent increase.

The head of the city’s firefighters union on Monday, Oct. 26, challenged the increases, calling the payouts ill-timed and improper.

Mike Fasnacht, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 136, said, “I’m not sure what happened here,” but the city needs to examine the raises. He noted that the raises came at a time when the city is facing a budget deficit and most city employees gave up negotiated 3 percent raises for 2009.

“I think they lost focus when they made these decisions,” Fasnacht said. “This is about truthfulness.”

Randy Beane, head of the city’s police union, said news of the increases came out during fact-finding after City Manager Rashad Young re-opened contract negotiations.

Tom Biendenharn, the city’s director of public affairs, said it is the city’s policy to give non-bargaining unit employees compensation similar to what union members receive. Some 446 eligible union members did receive step increases this year totally $762,958, for an average of $1,708 per employee.

“This year, we gave no wage increases, only step or step equivalent increases,” he said. “This is about parity. Payments were consistent throughout the organization. It’s a matter of fairness.

Biedenharn said this policy was set by former city manager Jim Dinneen around 2004. Beidenharn said he is searching for a document that explains the practice.

Fasnacht produced a copy of a city personnel policy statement from July 2008 that said managers and executives are only eligible for merit increase.

“They violated their own personnel policies and procedures to give step raises when all raises are supposed to be based on merit,” he said.

Employees in these management positions often came out of union ranks. As managers, they were no longer eligible for union negotiated step increases, so some of their subordinates could earn more than them. This gave managers no incentive to stay in a supervisory position, Biedenharn said.

Mangers receive smaller percentage step-equivalent increases over longer periods of time than union employees before topping out in their pay band, Biedenharn said.

The average annual “step equivalent” increase for managers was $771 per person, according to city records. Young, whose annual salary was $151,340, got a retroactive increase totaling $1,175.

Step increase information

Below is the average percentage of step increase given to city of Dayton employees by union and the step equivalent percentage give to managers and executives.

Non-bargaining unit clerical: 2.85 percent
FOP: 3.26 percent
Firefighters: 4.27 percent
Building trades: 2.85 percent
Dayton Public Service Union blue collar: 3.61 percent
Dayton Public Service Union clerical: 4.10 percent
Non-bargaining unit employees (including managers and executives): 1.19 percent.