The Atlanta City Council’s vote Monday to award $2 million in extra pay to some workers as compensation for unused vacation time touches on so many hallmarks of government dysfunction, I might not cover them all in this space.
But I’ll try.
You have the retroactive awarding of money that wasn’t promised to workers. The council’s vote covered vacation time that expired at the end of 2013 after rolling over from previous years.
You have the biggest plums going to those who were already well-paid. While the majority of workers stand to get checks for a few hundred dollars, five-figure checks will be going to at least one judge and several members of Mayor Kasim Reed’s administration. “City leaders note the high payouts are a function of bigger salaries,” according to a story by the AJC’s Katie Leslie.
You have an arbitrary deadline forcing the council’s hand before the proposal could be fully vetted. “A handful of councilmembers asked for more time to review the legislation,” Leslie reported, “but District 10 Councilman C.T. Martin — who sponsored the payout legislation — said it was important to pass it now so that those employees could receive checks by Christmas.”
You have the money being spent outside the budget, from reserves.
You have an action that doubles down on a controversial action in the past. In this case, it’s the payment of tens of thousands of dollars to some employees — topped by Police Chief George Turner, at almost $80,000 — for unused leave under a “hardship” program that wasn’t widely known before being reported by news outlets. Martin cited “fairness” concerns in proposing to extend the program to more workers, but Councilwoman Felicia Moore has questioned the legality of those earlier payments.
You have this action being taken even though it stands to exacerbate, not alleviate, the previous controversy. Not only could some employees complain that they, too, would’ve eschewed time off had they known they could be paid for it. But in the future, others might skip vacation in hopes of getting cash. Will they get paid? How much might that cost?
You have the council rejecting a cost-saving measure. Councilwomen Mary Norwood and Keisha Lance Bottoms tried unsuccessfully to cap the amount workers could be paid for unused vacation.
You have the likely creation of another financial liability that hasn’t been quantified. “(I)t’s unknown how the payouts … will affect pension payments to employees who retired this year and lost vacation time in 2013,” Leslie reported.
You have the council acting now, even though a “technical advisory committee” appointed just this summer to examine workers’ salary concerns has yet to report its findings.
And finally, you have new payouts to public workers whose pay is funded by taxpayers — who, in many if not most cases, don’t get the same benefit from their employers.
Atlanta has made some strides in fiscal policy in recent years, but this is a sobering reminder of just how quickly and easily elected officials can fall off the wagon again.
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