Guest View: Mike Zinkin – Are Town Employees Underpaid?

It’s kind of hard to feel sorry for Town of Oro Valley employees. The Town Manager is going to make a case that Town employees are underpaid and that the Town Council needs to adjust their salaries and give them an additional merit/step increase in FY 2022/23. The below panel [Click to enlarge] reveals a comparison of Oro Valley town employee salaries in 2018 and 2022.

Step and Merit Increases
The very first page of the Town Manager’s Recommended Budget (TMRB) states that one of the overarching themes is: “Funding annual step and merit increases as well as planned changes to the Town’s classification and compensation pay plan to ensure the organization can continue to attract and retain quality employees.”

Compensation Study being finalized
On page v of the TMRB it states: “As a service-based organization, recruiting and retaining top talent is foundational to the Town’s ability to provide quality public services. As such, the Town is finalizing a comprehensive classification and compensation study that will adjust employee pay grades to remain competitive. The Recommended Budget includes $1.3 million in the General Fund set aside for the implementation of the final pay plan, which is expected to be brought before Council in two pieces beginning in May. The budget also includes funds to continue normal step increases and merit adjustments for all eligible Town employees.”

Town will pay 75% of employee health insurance premiums
TAs far as employee health insurance is concerned: “the Town will not need to increase employee-only health premiums for FY 2022/23 for the third year in a row, an anomaly in the health benefit arena today. Dependent premiums are moving slowly to a universal 75 percent contribution by the Town, a process that will conclude next fiscal year.”

It’s mind-boggling
Remember that during the recent pandemic, no Oro Valley employee was furloughed or had reduced hours. Wow! A new pay increase, along with the usual step and merit increases, plus no increase in insurance premiums, and dependent care being accomplished with the Town covering 75% of the cost. Yet the Community Center remains ADA non-compliant and drinking water/potable is utilized on two parks and a 9-hole golf course.

Apparently, we taxpayers are here to serve the Town employees instead of the employees serving the residents of the Town.

- - -
Mike Zinkin and his wife have lived in Oro Valley since 1998. He served on the Oro Valley Development Review Board from 2005-2009, the Board of Adjustment from 2011-2012, and the Town Council from 2012-2016. He was named a Fellow for the National League of Cities. He was a member of the NLC Steering Committee for Community and Economic Development and a member of the Arizona League of Cities Budget and Economic Development Committee. He was an Air Traffic Controller for 30 years. Mike has a Bachelor’s degree in history and government from the University of Arizona and a Master’s degree in Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education from California State University, Northridge.

Holiday Edition: Bits and Pieces

---
MTCVB has booted Marana out.(Source)
---
There are three open solicitations for services to the Town of Oro Valley.  They are:

• Cost of Service Study for the Water Department
• Water Rate Analysis Report
• Benefits Consultant

Click here to can get a copy of each solicitation.   Responses to the first two are due by 4PM on December 7. The response to the third is December 12, also by 4PM.
---
November 9, 2012 HiVE deployment results:

• 37 total traffic stops 
• 25 drivers stopped for moving violations (e.g. running red light, speeding) 
• 6 drivers received citations for moving violations 
• 25 drivers received written warnings 12 drivers were stopped for equipment and/or registration violations 
• 5 drivers received combination citation and warning for non-moving violations.
• 1 collision

(Source: Oro Valley Press Release)
---

Is this an outdoor display code violation?  You tell us.

It is a display outside of "Play It Again Sports" at Oracle and McGee.

(Source: one of our bloggers)
---

Budget Primer: Self Insurance Fund

---
When a private company or government entity wants to self-fund health insurance it is betting that it will be able to control the difference between the money (fund) set aside from the general fund (in the case of Oro Valley) and claims actually submitted by employees. It is not trying to make a profit but break-even and thereby lower its cost and use any gain if it occurs elsewhere in the budget.

• The Town of Oro Valley did not want to incur new budget costs in setting up its own internal administrative services for this self-insurance. The Town of Oro Valley is considering buying Third Party Administration (TPA) called Administrative Only Services (ASO) from a subsidiary of United Healthcare called UMR.

• The Town of Oro Valley will need a Provider Network for basic health insurance protection (doctors, hospitals, etc.). The Town of Oro Valley is considering buying that service from United Healthcare in the form of a plan called High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP).

• The Town of Oro Valley has to lay-off some of the risk of excess or catastrophic health claim problems (like cancer clusters or significant long term health problems) by buying stop/loss insurance (which is commonly called re-insurance). The Town of Oro Valley is considering buying that service from United Healthcare.

• The Town of Oro Valley will also continue to provide prescription or drug coverage. The Town of Oro Valley is considering buying that Pharmacy Benefit from a subsidiary of United Healthcare called Optum.

• Arizona has a state law that allows someone to directly sue an insurer (Town of Oro Valley) for errors and omissions in claims problems. The Town of Oro Valley may already have liability insurance that covers this potential problem. The Town may have to purchase liability insurance to protect itself if it does not.

• Most self-funded approaches have someone that has the fiduciary responsibility for the program. Many government entities create an advisory board to perform that function. The Town has not yet announced the creation of an advisory board.

This is first year Oro Valley has self-insured health program.  This fund will manage costs related to the Town’s self-funding of health insurance.  The budget includes establishing the Self Insurance Benefit Fund was started with a base of $300,000 contributed from General Fund contingency reserves.  The budget for this year is $2.1 million, sourced from premiums that the town would have  paid to the health insurers.
---
This is the last of our "informational pieces" on the budget. Monday, we will begin posting our analysis.
---