By Matt Roy
Twitter: @AzNewsmedia

One Arizona lawmaker made national news last week when he proposed a controversial city pay cap bill, which — if adopted — would affect municipal governments across the state.

Multiple media outlets, both local and national, reported Ariz. Sen. Paul Boyer (R-Dist. 20) called for a statewide salary maximum for city staffers, capping their pay at the amount paid to the Arizona governor.

At an annual salary of $95,000, Gov. Doug Ducey’s is the third lowest paid of any U.S. governor; only those in Colorado and Maine get less, according to a report from the Associated Press.

The AP reported Mr. Boyer issued his statement following a contentious meeting with Glendale City Manager Kevin Phelps last week, which focused on disagreements over how that city has implemented his 2015 bill aimed at bolstering city compensation for firefighters who got cancer while on the job.

“All could talk about was how expensive it was to cover our true heroes who get cancer protecting us. So, I’ve found a way to realize some savings,” Mr. Boyer said after the meeting, the AP reported.

While Mr. Boyer’s stand for firefighter compensation may be admirable, imposing city salary caps would be an inadvisable step, some experts said.

Martha Perego, director of membership and ethics at the International City/County Management Association, suggested any savings from reduced leadership salaries would cost communities more in the long run.

“It’s important for all communities to be fiscally responsible, but arbitrary constraints rarely result in savings. The creep of new inefficiencies and decline in services — longer waits, unkempt public spaces, underperforming schools, slower emergency response times – quickly cancel out any short-term gains,” Ms. Perego stated.

She asserted highly qualified municipal staffers and leaders are worth much more than what they get paid.

“Well-trained local government staff, like the thousands of professional local government managers who lead communities across the country, multiply the power of every budget dollar through expertise and efficiency,” Ms. Perego reiterated. “This kind of staff requires ongoing training and competitive salaries but pays for itself many times over.”

Tom Belshe, deputy director at the League of Arizona Cities and Towns, agreed arbitrary salary caps would hurt cities more than help them.

“We have employees that it would be very difficult to replace with a capped salary,” Mr. Belshe said. “As you might imagine, when something requires a lot of training and schooling it’s more difficult to find people who have the necessary degrees and certifications for those positions. We just consider the idea to be a little short-sighted.”

On request, Mr. Boyer issued a statement clarifying his position, saying he only envisions restricting pay for what he described as “bureaucrats.”

“My tweet specifically mentioned city bureaucrats. As such, my proposal is not about city employees generally since the overwhelming number of city employees do a wonderful job. I’m focused on city bureaucrats who are systematically breaking the law by denying health benefits to firefighters who get cancer on the job. Any legislation would be very narrowly focused,” Mr. Boyer stated.

Whether other city’s managers other than Mr. Phelps in Glendale had raised Mr. Boyer’s ire remains unclear.

The senator declined two requests to respond to specific questions from this newspaper seeking further clarification about his proposal, it’s motivation and the impact it might have on local communities.

Mr. Belshe said salary caps, even if applied only to city managers, could make it hard for Arizona cities to compete for talent in the national market.

“All you have to do is look at the starting salaries for city managers in other states. I think we’re competitive. But especially in the larger cities, they do have national searches attached to those positions. If you’re setting a salary cap of $95,000, that obviously puts you behind the eight-ball as far as attracting the kind of candidates that you want to have,” he said.

And Ms. Perego suggested current market conditions will exacerbate the problem, as the national pool of qualified city managers is rapidly shrinking.

“This is an especially unadvisable time to set an arbitrary cap on what a local government can pay its staff,” Mr. Perego stated. “With nearly 40% of the public sector workforce at or approaching retirement age, faced with a salary cut, experienced local government professionals have options and will simply take a better paying job elsewhere.”

Pay standards

The National League of Cities at its website (nlc.org) reports a national average salary of $10,408 for city managers.

However, large cities and those desperate to compete on the national stage for economic development opportunities are apt to pay much more to fill those positions.

In Phoenix — the nation’s sixth-largest city, with 1.6 million residents and an annual budget of $4.4 million — City Manager Ed Zuercher is paid a reported $325,000 per year.

Public records obtained earlier this year by Independent Newsmedia reveal city executive pays ranging far above the $95,000 threshold proposed by Mr. Boyer.

Scottsdale City Manager Jim Thompson earns $261,606; Queen Creek Finance Director Scott McCarthy earns $158,255; and Paradise Valley Deputy Town Manager Dawn Marie Buckland earns $160,103.

In Surprise, a city government with a stated focus on attracting high-paying jobs to a community experiencing exponential population growth, top municipal leaders are well-paid and highly experienced.

City Manager Mike Frazier earns $230,000 annually, with City Attorney Robert Wingo and City Clerk Sherry Aguilar (an employee with nearly 30 years of service) pulling in $185,711 and $142,216 respectively.

Economic Development Director Jeanene Jerkovic is paid $156,156 yearly for her services, while Assistant City Manager Mark Schott makes $183,352.

City managers in Phoenix, Scottsdale and Surprise declined to comment about Mr. Boyer’s proposal for this article. Requests for comment from city managers in Peoria and Glendale received no response as of press time.

Arizona Senate Majority Leader Rick Gray (R- Dist. 21), who represents Surprise, the Sun Cities and parts of Peoria, said Mr. Boyer’s proposal would not likely gain enough support among his fellow Republicans to pass.

“I just don’t think it’s viable, because to arbitrarily say as a state legislature cities cannot pay over $95,000 a year to employees is not our purview. Cities have their domains. There’s certain things that cities have a right to decide,” Mr. Gray said. “Whether or not they could get a city manager for that kind of money in a competitive world, there’s just a certain level of absurdity there.”

Though he’s unlikely to support such a measure, Mr. Gray said he gets the ends Mr. Boyer hopes to achieve, even if these means may not fit the bill.

“I understand his intent, he wants to protect the firefighters, which I also support. But I think his premise is just unsupportable by the legislature. It’s out of our scope to start dictating to the cities how they’re going to pay their people,” he said.