4 ms·

Everyone wants higher quality public servants. Nobody wants to pay taxes.

Pigalowda 4y ago
It just depends on the job. Looks like many make substantially more than me, though I'm an "apprentice" https://www.thecentersquare.com/washington/hundreds-of-seattle-employees-out-earned-the-mayor-in-2019/article_28bbf57e-d5d1-11ea-b7d6-635a94b15c83.html https://www.thecentersquare.com/washington/hundreds-of-seatt...
- alephnerd 4y ago
  Every single one of those "high salary" jabs includes Insurance and Pension contributions and force overtime. That's the equivalent of saying an employee earning $90,000 is actually earning around $200,000 because of UI, Healthcare, and 401k plan spend by an employer.
  - Pigalowda 4y ago
    This article disagrees with you https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/374-seattle-police-department-employees-made-at-least-200000-last-year-heres-how/ https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/374-seatt... “The median gross pay among SPD’s more than 2,000 employees last year was about $153,000, not including benefits, with 374 employees grossing at least $200,000 and 77 making at least $250,000, according to a Times analysis”
    - xnyan 4y ago
      As far as I know, police are are the only government employees in the US with a strong union and lobbying effort. Salary can get relatively high, especially with overtime and side benefits of employment like moonlighting as private security.
      - alephnerd 4y ago
        Most public sector unions are quite strong (and I support that btw). My mom's union for special education teachers was able to negotiate an additional $15k out of the school district she works at, and same with some family friends of ours who are municipal workers (city accountants, sanitation workers, etc). And my own friends who work in the Federal Govt on the GSA pay scale have a strong union as well.
      - ceejayoz 4y ago
        Yep. The highest-paid officers also tend to be soon-to-retire officers. They get thrown a bunch of overtime by their bosses towards the end because their pension is based on their last x years of pay. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-newyork-pension/public-workers-spike-pensions-with-excess-overtime-idUSTRE6664UC20100707 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-newyork-pension/public-wo... > For example, a police officer with a history of zero overtime worked more than 800 hours of overtime in his last years on the job, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate said in a report.
      - deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
    - alephnerd 4y ago
      From the article you linked: "The gross pay numbers cloak some details, because they combine regular and overtime pay; SPD uses overtime to staff emphasis patrols, sports events and other special events, such as parades and protests. It spent more than $34 million in overtime pay in 2019. Last year’s gross numbers are also somewhat skewed, because members of the Seattle Police Officers Guild (SPOG) received lump-sum retroactive raises from 2015-2018, when they worked under an expired contract. The retroactive payments help explain why SPD’s median gross pay rose from about $105,000 in 2017 and $104,000 in 2018 to $153,000 in 2019, and why 20 employees leapfrogged Best in gross pay from 2017 to 2019." The $153k median is skewed due to - median backpay of around $35k for 3 years, so in reality median base pay is around $115k.
      - Pigalowda 4y ago
        And that's still good pay. Thank you.
ejb999 4y ago
plenty of public employees get paid a ton of money - that hasn't gotten us any better people in those positions.
- alephnerd 4y ago
  Depending on your education and role you could end up earning more in the private sector, but at least public sector gigs used to have strong protections until 2008. After 2008, an entire generation of public sector employees were laid off.
edgyquant 4y ago
We already pay taxes and not a small amount of them. More money isn’t the solution here.
tedunangst 4y ago
Market for lemons.

It just depends on the job. Looks like many make substantially more than me, though I'm an "apprentice" https://www.thecentersquare.com/washington/hundreds-of-seattle-employees-out-earned-the-mayor-in-2019/article_28bbf57e-d5d1-11ea-b7d6-635a94b15c83.html https://www.thecentersquare.com/washington/hundreds-of-seatt...

alephnerd 4y ago
Every single one of those "high salary" jabs includes Insurance and Pension contributions and force overtime. That's the equivalent of saying an employee earning $90,000 is actually earning around $200,000 because of UI, Healthcare, and 401k plan spend by an employer.
- Pigalowda 4y ago
  This article disagrees with you https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/374-seattle-police-department-employees-made-at-least-200000-last-year-heres-how/ https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/374-seatt... “The median gross pay among SPD’s more than 2,000 employees last year was about $153,000, not including benefits, with 374 employees grossing at least $200,000 and 77 making at least $250,000, according to a Times analysis”
  - xnyan 4y ago
    As far as I know, police are are the only government employees in the US with a strong union and lobbying effort. Salary can get relatively high, especially with overtime and side benefits of employment like moonlighting as private security.
    - alephnerd 4y ago
      Most public sector unions are quite strong (and I support that btw). My mom's union for special education teachers was able to negotiate an additional $15k out of the school district she works at, and same with some family friends of ours who are municipal workers (city accountants, sanitation workers, etc). And my own friends who work in the Federal Govt on the GSA pay scale have a strong union as well.
    - ceejayoz 4y ago
      Yep. The highest-paid officers also tend to be soon-to-retire officers. They get thrown a bunch of overtime by their bosses towards the end because their pension is based on their last x years of pay. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-newyork-pension/public-workers-spike-pensions-with-excess-overtime-idUSTRE6664UC20100707 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-newyork-pension/public-wo... > For example, a police officer with a history of zero overtime worked more than 800 hours of overtime in his last years on the job, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate said in a report.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
  - alephnerd 4y ago
    From the article you linked: "The gross pay numbers cloak some details, because they combine regular and overtime pay; SPD uses overtime to staff emphasis patrols, sports events and other special events, such as parades and protests. It spent more than $34 million in overtime pay in 2019. Last year’s gross numbers are also somewhat skewed, because members of the Seattle Police Officers Guild (SPOG) received lump-sum retroactive raises from 2015-2018, when they worked under an expired contract. The retroactive payments help explain why SPD’s median gross pay rose from about $105,000 in 2017 and $104,000 in 2018 to $153,000 in 2019, and why 20 employees leapfrogged Best in gross pay from 2017 to 2019." The $153k median is skewed due to - median backpay of around $35k for 3 years, so in reality median base pay is around $115k.
    - Pigalowda 4y ago
      And that's still good pay. Thank you.

ejb999 4y ago

plenty of public employees get paid a ton of money - that hasn't gotten us any better people in those positions.

alephnerd 4y ago
Depending on your education and role you could end up earning more in the private sector, but at least public sector gigs used to have strong protections until 2008. After 2008, an entire generation of public sector employees were laid off.

edgyquant 4y ago

We already pay taxes and not a small amount of them. More money isn’t the solution here.

tedunangst 4y ago

Market for lemons.