Besides the obvious question of whether Heath Scott deserves to be paid nearly $33,000 more than any other permanent police chief in our town’s history is the matter of the precedent set for a 10 percent pay increase to borough executives.
Under his proposed new contract, Scott will make $110,000 annually for 18 months starting in January, then get a $1,000 raise every year after that.
Scott’s raise – if approved by the assembly – will set an expensive precedent likely to cost taxpayers upwards of $100,000 in raises for high-ranking, contract employees at the same time the assembly is asking you to approve new taxes.
Here’s why: This is how Scott’s new salary would compare with other managerial positions in the borough, according to salaries listed in the FY 20 budget.
Police Chief: $110,000.
Borough Manager: $93,600.
Facilities Manager: $93,205.
Borough Clerk: $79,040
Borough Chief Financial Officer: $68,250.
As they used to say on the TV show Sesame Street, one of these things is not like the others. With the chief position paying embarrassingly more than any other job in the borough, pressure immediately will be on the assembly to create some “parity” in pay among top-level employees.
This is how it works, and how it has worked in the past. In the late 1980s, the school district secretary was being paid significantly more than the Haines Borough clerk. Workers down in the borough hall were justifiably outraged that positions with big workloads and responsibilities were being paid a fraction of the amount of workers with lighter loads.
What did the borough do to address this inequity? Nothing. As a result, borough workers eventually unionized and nearly all the wages paid by the borough took a big jump. School district secretary pay was not reduced.
This is how it works with government employee pay: One person’s pay goes up, and everyone’s goes up to match it. Maybe not right away. Typically raises like Scott’s are approved after a municipal budget is passed, during the sunny, warm summer months when most everyone is busy with projects and no one much is showing up at borough assembly meetings.
There’s some coffee-shop grousing about taxpayers being fleeced and a few statements by gadflies at assembly meetings, but they’re ignored after the opponents get their three-minute statement down at city hall.
If Heath Scott’s proposed raise goes forward, the cost of government is going up, big time. And you’ll pay for it with your taxes, along with the increased taxes you’ll pay to cover Gov. Dunleavy’s cuts to the borough.
When you complain about your taxes going up, and the manager or assembly politely ask you what part of government you’d like to see cut, remember Scott’s exorbitant pay increase, and the ones that followed it.