Longevity pay must end

Friday, Dec. 18, 2009 | 3 a.m.

Clark County officials are projecting a $120 million tax revenue deficit in the next fiscal year. As county leaders look where to cut, there is one glaring area that stands out: longevity pay.

County employers who already enjoy some of the best pay and benefits in the state get a bonus for longtime employment with the county. That longevity pay is added to their base pay. That drives up the cost of overtime and the county’s contribution to retirement. The Las Vegas Sun, In Business Las Vegas’ sister publication, recently reported that longevity pay and its associated costs totaled $44 million in the fiscal year that ended June 30.

As the Sun reported, longevity pay can add tens of thousands of dollars to an employee’s pay. According to county records, more than 650 employees are making more than $10,000 a year in longevity pay. One employee took home more than $40,000 in longevity pay.

“There are so many of these things — cost-of-living raises, step increase, merit raises, longevity bonuses, whatever you want to call them, you have to start asking: For what?” County Commissioner Steve Sisolak said. “I talk to people in the private sector who are just happy to keep their jobs, and we’re giving all this money away. We have got to put a tighter rein on this. The county has to get a handle on it.”

Indeed. Longevity pay is a holdover from days when governments didn’t pay particularly well. But those days are long gone. The average county salary-and-benefits package is more than $90,000 a year. A survey last year by the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce suggested government employees in Nevada, of which the county makes up the bulk, are paid 28 percent more than private sector workers in comparable jobs.

It is good to reward employees for their service and their work, but giving these huge bonuses year after year is a drain on government resources. County officials will be hard-pressed to rein in their budget because of union contracts, but they will have to if they want to avoid massive cuts and layoffs.

The county should take a lesson from the private sector. There is a reason few companies award lavish longevity pay — they couldn’t stay in business if they did.