Public sector employers say biggest concern is budget size

The Boulder Valley’s largest public sector employers have a common concern: money, as in lack of it.

With about 4,000 employees, the Boulder Valley School district is the largest public sector employer in Boulder and Broomfield counties. Its biggest issue, said spokeswoman Susan Cousins, is funding.

The rest of the top five — St. Vrain Valley School District, state of Colorado, University of Colorado at Boulder and Boulder County — share that same concern, and it also affects about 18,000 workers among the approximately 20 public employers in the area.

“We have virtually no control over our revenue stream, which is dictated by our enrollment and what the Legislature dictates,” Cousins said. She called every year is a “balancing act” between “financial obligations to employees” including salaries and health insurance and “what we have coming in.” The district pays for health insurance for employees but contributes nothing toward premiums for dependents.

The Boulder Valley Education Association represents teachers’ concerns. President Michael Altenbern said the association’s key issue is “keeping pace with insurance and having salaries that attract and retain high quality teachers.”

For Altenbern, insurance is the real problem. He pays $365 monthly for his teen-age daughter’s health coverage, an increase of 26 percent over 2003 premiums. “It’s just taken a bigger chunk every year,” he said. “I know that everyone is facing that kind of problem, but it continues to be a problem for us as well.”

Randy Zila, superintendent of the St. Vrain Valley School District, the second largest public sector employer with 3,400 employees that serves the greater Longmont area, said the district’s financial crisis last year has hurt.

“We found it more difficult to be competitive,” he said. In 2003 the district was hit with a fiscal deficit and had to borrowed money from the state in order to function. Although the $13.8 loan will be paid in June, the resulting $10 million deficit “will take years” to resolve, Zila said.

In order to recover, the district cut 25 percent of its budget by eliminating 21 administrative positions and giving all employees a 7 percent pay cut. Zila said he took a 14 percent pay cut.

Between one-third of University of Colorado at Boulder employees, a few state agencies including transportation and natural resources, and the 20th Judicial District, the state of Colorado has about 2,500 employees and ranks No. 3 among Boulder Valley public sector employers.

Portable retirement

According to state Human Resources Director Jeff Schutt, Colorado’s primary issue as an employer is total compensation, particularly health care. The state contributes to employee health insurance premiums, “but it’s way below prevailing,” Schutt said. He said Colorado contributes between 38 percent and 50 of what typical Colorado employers contribute. The Legislature is working on the issue, and Schutt expects to see an increase in July.

The state tries to pay competitive wages, Schutt said, but because of revenue shortfalls, “we’ve fallen back a bit” and struggle to attract new employees. The average age of a state employee is 45, he said, and many stay on the job because of job security and a pension, benefits that have become a rarity in the private sector.

“But the younger people coming in are looking for different things,” Schutt said. “They are wanting to come in and out in three years, not a lifetime career.” Because of these different goals, the state is considering offering more portable retirement packages, he said.

CU-Boulder comes in at No. 4 with some 2,100 employees. Michele McKinney, spokeswoman for the entire CU system, said utility costs and employee compensation are the school’s biggest issues.

CU is expecting a 19 percent increase in its utility bill — about $4 million systemwide — as a result of increased natural gas costs.

The Legislature mandated a 3 percent salary increase for classified staff, those under the state’s personnel system. But, McKinney said, all CU employees — faculty and exempt professionals as well as classified — will be getting that raise. “To be fair, President (Elizabeth) Hoffman feels it’s important to extend raises to faculty and exempt professionals as well.” These increases are expected to cost $14.4 million, she said.

PERA provisions

Patti Zike represents CU employees as co-chairwoman of the Boulder Campus Staff Council as said her main concern is money for raises. “We haven’t received a raise in almost two years.

With the economy, we don’t know if we will be getting a raise this year.” Despite McKinney’s assertion of a 3 percent raise across the board, Zike said she is only aware of a 2 percent cost-of-living increase for classified employees, with the possibility of a 0.5 percent to 1 percent raise for performance and another 0.5 percent increase toward health insurance premiums.

The key issue for No. 5 Boulder County, although financial, is a bit different than the other public sector employees. It has to do with retirement.

On April 1 the county’s 1,600 employees switched from the Social Security system to the Public Employees’ Retirement Association, known as PERA, said James Burrus, spokesman for Boulder County. PERA provides retirement and other benefits to the employees of more than 380 government agencies and public entities in the state of Colorado, replacing both Social Security and 401(k)s. The process is taking time and requiring a bit of a learning curve, he said.

The state’s fiscal problems don’t affect employees, Burrus said, but they do affect their work. “Our social services and health departments took a beating the last couple of years budgetarily from the state,” he said. “Thank goodness for the generosity of the Boulder County voters for supporting Worthy Cause. We’ll have to continue to trim but won’t have to cut services.” The 0.05 percent Worthy Cause sales tax was originally approved November 2000 and won a five-year extension in 2003.

Contact Caron Schwartz Ellis at (303) 440-4950 or e-mail csellis@bcbr.com.

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