Salary comparison prompts queries, comments, criticism

A 15-page report comparing wages and pay raises between Clark County, the three cities and a half-dozen regional entities provoked questions and some criticism from commissioners Tuesday.

"There's a wealth of information in these pages," said Commissioner Steve Sisolak, who requested the report. "It's going to take a long time to digest."

The purpose of compiling the report was to see how the county's compensation stacks up to other local governments as county officials look at trimming labor costs.

The cities of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas were included in the report, as were agencies such as the Regional Transportation Commission, the Las Vegas Valley Water District and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

And to make the study even more comprehensive, county researchers covered about 25 employee groups within those jurisdictions.

One trend caught a few commissioners' attention: cost-of-living raises outpacing inflation, some by a wide margin, over the past 10 years.

These raises increased the wages of almost a dozen employee groups by 40 percent or more over the decade, while inflation was measured at 31 percent during that time.

For that reason, cost-of-living raises should really be called wage adjustments, said Don Burnette, the county's chief administrative officer.

Commissioner Lawrence Weekly noted that compensation, such as longevity pay, varies greatly among the entities. Some of that is the result of unions getting the better deals for whoever they represent, he said.

But he also questioned whether the county's lack of home-rule power tied its hands in offering the most competitive wages for, say, the top manager.

County Manager Virginia Valentine runs the largest organization in the report but is third from the bottom in pay.

"We can only do those things granted by the state," Valentine said. "Cities have charters" that give them greater autonomy.

Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani said commissioners who sit on regional boards such as the health district should express concerns to these agencies if their wages seem too high.

Commissioner Tom Collins dismissed the report as a quick snapshot that doesn't show the whole picture.

It doesn't take into account how the county runs on a thinner staff relative to population than most other local governments, he said. It also can't show how collective bargaining differs among unions or how employee seniority affects pay.

"We've thrown it out there and it's made a splash in the media," Collins said.

Contact reporter Scott Wyland at swyland@reviewjournal.com or 702-455-4519.