Dear Everyone;
Last year as part of the Initiatives Committee we constructed three initiative proposals. The Police Reform - The Salary Cap Plan - Payroll Tax Repeal. By LPSF meetings decision this is the priority order.
Sarosh's proposed initiative to limit the salary and benefits of City employees to the average SF residents salary and benefits is similar in nature to the proposed salary cap program. The salary cap proposed initiative as written and not modified would cap mayors salary at $120,000 and all other positions scaled down from there. In general this would mean the average pay would average about $50,000 which is what the average private industry pay is in SF.
This is of course not what Sarosh proposes where no City employee would earn more than $50,000.
Below is the proposed salary cap initiative and also attached for review. Copies will be available at the meeting or for those of you who can download the attachment and print it out.
Obviously the proposed salary cap is open for discussion and modification if so chosen by the LPSF group at its meeting.
Ron Getty
Chair, Initiatives Committee
LEGAL TEXT: SAN FRANCISCO TAX PAYERS RELIEF ACT
This Initiative Ordinance is to provide relief for San Francisco taxpayers by introducing a plan to ensure San Francisco City employees compensation and benefits is comparable to private industry compensation in San Francisco.
Currently the compensation and benefits provided San Francisco City and County employees exceeds the compensation and benefits provided by private industry in San Francisco. This generosity therefore creates an unendurable burden on the taxpayers of San Francisco and those who do business in San Francisco by requiring them to pay higher taxes to cover the cost of an out of control compensation and benefits program.
The effect on the cost of living in San Francisco, due to the enormous budget required by the City and County of San Francisco, to provide this out of control compensation and benefits program creates a climate of ever increasing costs of rent, property taxes and costs of goods and services. This threatens to force those less likely to be able to do so to afford living in San Francisco. It forces small businesses to seriously consider moving out of San Francisco or not opening a business in San Francisco.
Be it ordained by the People of the City and County of San Francisco:
SECTION 1. Title.
This ordinance shall be known and may be cited as the: San Francisco Taxpayers Relief Act
SECTION 2. Findings.
The City and County of San Francisco employees 27,000 workers to work as public servants to the City and County of San Francisco. This is enormous number of employees is far beyond what comparable cities in size and population require.
The City and County of San Francisco provides an annual average compensation and benefits of $80,000 per public servant. Private industry in San Francisco provides an annual average compensation and benefits of $50,000. This is a differential of $810,000,000 borne by the taxpayers of San Francisco.
The City and County of San Francisco provides a choice of 4 group health plans, plus dental and vision plans at an estimated annual cost of $100,000,000. This generous health plan is made available to any City and County of San Francisco employee working more than 20 hours a week. Single, City employees contribute no co-payments on premiums and if the correct health plan is chosen City employees with 1 dependent pay no co-payments on premiums.
The City and County of San Francisco provides a very generous retirement program also paid for by the City and County of San Francisco taxpayers.
SECTION 3. Declarations
The City and County of San Francisco through its costly City employees programs is taxing citizens and businesses in San Francisco right out of San Francisco.
The loss of businesses and citizens is creating an ever increasing spiral for the taxpayers of San Francisco. As more people and businesses leave San Francisco those remaining must bear a higher and higher share of the costs of supporting a vast administrative bureaucracy who only serves themselves at the expense of the common private citizens of San Francisco.
SECTION 4. Purpose and Intent.
The People of the City and County of San Francisco declare their purpose and intent in enacting the Initiative Ordinance San Francisco Taxpayers Relief Act to be as follows:
To give surcease to the taxpayers of the City and County of San Francisco from supporting a vast bureaucratic and administrative enclave of public servants whose only purpose is maintaining their pay and benefits at the expense of the private citizen taxpayers.
SECTION 5. San Francisco Taxpayers Relief Act:
Be it resolved, the citizens of San Francisco City and County do establish the following Ordinance:
The total combined compensation maximum in pay and benefits for any person employed by the City and County of San Francisco will be at $120,000. This maximum shall be assigned to the Mayor of the City and County of San Francisco.
San Francisco City Supervisors will have their pay and benefits capped at $110,000.
Department heads will have their pay and benefits capped at $100,000.
Division heads will have their pay and benefits capped at $90,000.
Administrative managers will have their pay and benefits capped at $80,000.
All other City and County of San Francisco employees will have their pay and benefits scaled down from this level.
This Ordinance will apply to all positions of employment in all jurisdictions, all commissions, groups and associations under the control of the City and County of San Francisco and/or receiving funds from the City and County of San Francisco whose staffs would be considered as being employed in actually or indirectly by the City and County of San Francisco.
All existing Memorandum of Understandings will be re-negotiated to go into effect with the July 1, 2007 budget of the City and County of San Francisco to reflect these pay and benefit caps.
All previous Ordinances establishing pay and compensation packages will be replaced by this Ordinance.
SECTION 6. Effective Date.
The provisions of this ordinance shall take effect with the San Francisco City and County budget starting July 1, 2007.
SECTION 7. Severability.
If any provision of this ordinance or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid or unconstitutional, such invalidity or unconstitutionality shall not affect other provisions or applications of this act that can be given effect without the invalid or unconstitutional provision of this application, and to this end the provisions of this ordinance are severable.
SECTION 8. Amendments.
The provisions of this initiative, once enacted, may not be amended except by another initiative measure.
noon8window.pdf (36 Bytes)