So I sat my butt down and spent nearly an entire day composing this letter. Then I let it (and me) cool off a bit then revised it. After a few tweaks, I had Bobby review it and got his input. This is the final result (four pages' worth of result):
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The Honorable Jack Markell
Governor
Tatnall Building
William Penn Street, 2nd Floor
Dover, DE 19901
Dear Governor Markell:
I am a 27-year State of Delaware employee with the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC), and I am extremely concerned with the economic situation in Delaware and the rest of the world. As a pay grade 9, one of the lower pay grades in the system, I have three concerns that alarm me: State employee salaries, State employee benefits, and closing the budget gap.
State of Delaware Employee Salaries
While The News Journal is generally sympathetic to workers, it is highly antagonistic toward State employees and what they cost the “taxpayers.” They conveniently forget, as does a distressingly large number of the general public, that State employees are taxpayers, too. It would do us a world of good to know we have the support of our Governor and our legislators.
State employees got no pay raise last year, they won’t get one this year, and next year doesn’t look a whole lot better; however, the cost of living—groceries, utilities, rents, childcare, etc.—has certainly not gone down with those stagnant salaries’ buying power. We are losing by inflation 3% to 5%.
The State of Delaware’s 2007 Workforce Analysis reports that the “average” salary of State employees is $41,781; however, that number is extremely misleading.
The State pay grades range from 1 to 26, with the majority of the 12,190 Merit system employees being pay grades 14 and below. A chart demonstrating this can be found on page 7 of the 2007 Workforce Analysis.
Page 7 of the 2007 Workforce Analysis also reports that the largest number of employees (1,159) is in pay grade 11. The second largest group of employees (1,101) is in pay grade 7; and the third largest group (1,103) is in pay grade 8. Following is a table showing these pay grades and the salaries:
Pay grade 80% 100% 120%
11 $32,652 $40,815 $48,978
7 $24,910 $31,138 $37,366
8 $26,654 $33,317 $39,980
Most newly-hired employees’ salaries start at the 80% level. The 100% is supposed to be “full performance”—meaning, that’s the salary experienced employees are supposed to make. In reality, it can take 20 years or more for an employee to reach that 100%. The 120% is the maximum that someone in that pay grade can make. The people who actually reach 120% are virtually non-existent.
Page 8 of the 2007 Workforce Analysis shows that the largest number of employees (3,882) has five or fewer years of service; 2,984 employees have between 6 and 10 years of service. It’s a safe bet that the only new or fairly new employees making $41,781 are in the higher pay grades—i.e., 15 and above. As I mentioned previously, I am a pay grade 9 with 27 years of State service; and I am well below that “average” salary!
Employee Benefits
And now the Powers That Be (via the State Employee Benefits Committee) are talking about reducing employee benefits! First State Basic will remain unchanged. HMO Plan deductions will go up $25 per pay—an extra $650 a year. PPO Plan deductions will go up $7.50 per pay—an extra $195 a year. Co-pays for active State employees will go up $5 for primary visits, x-rays, lab work, and specialists. Emergency room visit co-pays will increase $15. The State Employee Benefits Committee is also going to “adjust” the prescription plan. Specifically, for people who suffer with allergies, they plan to refuse prescription antihistamines until over-the-counters used first. They plan to discourage the use of Prevacid and Miralax.
My husband and I are lucky with our 33 and 27 years, respectively, of State service and no children at home; but what about the poor stiffs trying to make it on $17,520 a year? That is the starting salary of a pay grade 1—a laundry or custodial worker or a clerical assistant.
Governor, let me respectfully ask you: How can any reasonable person expect a pay grade 1 who makes approximately $1,460 a month to pay, say, $700 a month for rent plus $500 a month for child care plus utilities plus food for the family plus car expenses (gas, insurance, maintenance) to get to that job in the first place THEN expect that pay grade 1 to shell out an extra $15 or $50 for family health care coverage because the Powers That Be are trying to balance the budget by reducing employee benefits? And that extra money for coverage doesn’t include the deductibles the employee must pay for said health care! Is it any wonder people in the lower pay grades have to work one, two, or more extra, part-time, jobs to try to make ends meet?
I understand there is also talk about doing away with health care benefits for retirees. Here’s what would happen to a retiree of a lower pay grade. Let’s say we have a retiree who is one of the mythical beings who actually reached 120% of his pay grade 7 job, having worked for the State of Delaware for 35 years, and was making $37,366 when he retired. Let’s be generous and say his pension is 75% of his last three years’ salary of $37,366 or $28,025; and he gets paid once a month. That’s a monthly income of approximately $2,335. As a reward for his 35 years of service, he’ll now get to pay anywhere from $500 to $1,000 a month (if not more) for his health care coverage, which reduces his monthly income to something between $1,835 and $1,335. If our retiree started working for the State at age 20, he’ll be 55 when he retires—he won’t qualify for Medicare, and he’s too young to collect Social Security. One hopes the poor man doesn’t still have a mortgage payment or that he needs to pay utilities . . . or eat.
Closing the Gap?
I should like to propose that the Governor and the Legislators do something truly revolutionary to balance the budget and/or make up the shortfall by doing something other than penalizing State employees. Keeping in mind the saying about binding the mouths of the kine who tread the grain, why not consider these steps:
- Triple or quadruple taxes on cigarettes.
- Triple or quadruple taxes on liquor.
- Triple or quadruple incorporation fees.
- Do away with some of the tax breaks that corporations get and private citizens don’t.
- Institute a developer’s fee of at least 20% for each house built in new developments. Half of the fee would help offset the costs of new roads and increased traffic and wear and tear on existing roads, the other half would go to the school district to pay for additional classrooms to handle the increased number of children attending school in that district.
- Double or triple property transfer taxes. Many people are moving to Delaware from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland because our taxes are so much lower. Why not let them pay up front to offset what they’re costing us in increased traffic congestion, increased wear and tear on our roads, increased pollution, and increased drain on our resources.
- Eliminate tax deductions for gambling losses and/or increase the percentage the State receives on gambling winnings.
If you absolutely must take another whack at State employees, I have two suggestions:
1. Eliminate educational assistance for people at pay grade 15 and above. People who make $42,801 and more should pay their own way if they want another degree. For example, we are paying for an additional degree for the Environmental Program Administrator of the Air Quality Management Section who makes $88,985 per year. I make $39,876 per year; why should my tax dollars subsidize someone who makes more than twice what I do?
2. Eliminate selective market variation (SMV). The difference between the regular pay grades and SMV is mind-boggling. As an example, the following table shows regular salaries compared to SMV engineer salaries:
[NOTE: The table would not "translate" into the post here--sorry, it was impressive]
As you can see, the differences run from nearly $8,000 for a pay grade 11 (which starts at 75% for SMV as compared to 80% for regular salaries) to just over $16,000 for a pay grade 22. In these economic times, this discrepancy is unnecessary. Contrary to what the program managers claim, it is not difficult to attract engineers to State employment, nor is it difficult to retain them; the problem is that the program managers want to hire entry-level engineers but expect them to have 20 years of experience.
There are similar discrepancies between regular salaries and other SMV classifications.
Finally
As a DNREC employee, I beg you: Please don’t saddle us with a secretary who’s into economic development—that’s what DEDO and Director Alan Levin are for. DNREC needs a regulator—someone who knows environmental regulations and knows how to enforce those regulations. We’ve been ordered by our governors, starting 20+ years ago with Mike Castle, to be more “friendly” to industries and businesses, to “educate” them and “work with them” rather than make them obey environmental laws; and look where it’s gotten us. Industries such as Valero thumb their noses at our attempts to get them to clean up their facility; and industries such as Standard Chlorine pollute at will then declare “bankruptcy” and decamp, thus saddling Delaware taxpayers with the cost of cleaning up the mess they left behind. Let Mr. Levin take the lead on attracting “green” industries; let the secretary of DNREC take care of protecting the State’s citizens, their health, and the environment.
Thank you, Governor Markell, for taking the time to read my letter. I would simply like to see State employees get a break for once. I’m proud I work for the State of Delaware, and I’m proud of my agency and my co-workers in every State agency. May I have your authorization to submit this as an opinion to The Delaware State News, The News Journal, and The Dover Post?
I remain, sir,
Very sincerely yours,
Leilani M. Wall
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