UPDATE: Despite Revenue Shortfall, Water Agency Continues to Pay Above Market
Despite the recession, the relatively obscure Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago continues to offer it workforce the sort of perks that other public employees have had to give up, including salary hikes, fat overtime checks and annual cash payouts for unused sick-leave days.
The district has a $1.7 billion budget and about 2,100 employees. The number being paid six-figure salaries has doubled to more than 400 since 2005.
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Many district employees are paid tens of thousands of dollars in overtime every year.
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The district’s top overtime recipient over the past five years has been paid almost $170,000.
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Total overtime payments by the district have risen by more than 20 percent since 2005, to about $5 million a year.
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Many district employees are paid thousands of dollars a year for unused sick days.
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Source: Information obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the Better Government Association in cooperation with the Chicago News Cooperative
Perhaps they should be congratulated as a model of fiscal responsibility. Perhaps the State of Illinois and City of Chicago should follow the practices of the Water Reclamation District. Perhaps we wouldn’t have near the mess that we have if other government agencies were able to manage their money as well as these guys.
The very fact that the Water REclamation District is able to continue paying their employees is testament to their money management skills.
Don’t tear down the good guys because they’re not in the same mess as other government agencies that are forced to make cutbacks.
Perhaps they should control salary costs and which would lower the cost of the service that they provide. Being able to pay excessive salaries is not a testament to good money management.
This is a bit tricky, as both sides are right to some extent. Public agencies are paid by taxes, which means they all work for us taxpayers. We don’t like to pay our help more than we get paid ourselves. Especially the top paid people who are getting something like $20,000 every month. Many families get that much for the whole year. Is anyone really worth that much?
On the other hand, they don’t have multi-billion dollar deficits like the City and State. So it doesn’t make a lot of sense to say that because the City and the State are having money problems, then it follows that this agency that is not connected to either the City or the State should endure the same type of cost-cutting even though they don’t have the same type of money problems. In plain terms it’s like saying that because your neighbor is getting foreclosed, then you have to sell your own house and move into low-cost housing, even though you’re not having any money problems yourself. There’s a certain lack of logic in the premise of this article.
It would be more convincing if there was some in-depth investigational reporting. Why is there so much overtime being paid? Is it because they have a personnel shortage? I would think that sewage flows 24/7, so somebody has to be on hand to take care of it. Chicago Police have a lot of overtime too, because someone has to be there to take care of the aftermath of crime. We want to cut back on salaries, but at the same time, we don’t want to give up the benefits of having a constant police presence, as well as having firefighters available when they’re needed. I’m sure we would notice if they didn’t take care of our sewage, and then we would complain about that.
Getting back to salaries, if these people have highly specialized skills, then maybe they’re worth what they’re paid. If their salaries are compared to comparable positions within the city government, then which salary is justified? Maybe the city salaries are too low. If the city wasn’t in such financial trouble, then maybe they would have higher salaries. What happens if the salaries of all these people are compared to similar jobs in the private sector? Public employees don’t take a vow of poverty. I don’t want my taxes to go up any more than anybody else, but public employees perform some necessary services, and if we want to accept the benefits of these services, then we have to expect to pay for them.
A excel spreadsheet does not tell the whole tale. As long as I have worked for the district we have had a skeleton crew from layoffs, nonhires from retirement. This place doesnt run itself. Now the base salaries of the top dogs I dont understand either. But if you looked at the overtime there is a story behind every minute of it. People are not just sleeping in a truck as we are all used to seeing from the media. All this overtime is justified
Let’s consider that the District works 24/7/365. This includes all holidays. And let’s also look at the work environment. Wastewater treatment is a dirty, odor filled, and dangerous job. I wonder if Mr. Milhalopoulos has ever toured one of our plants.
The District has won awards for it’s financial management. There have been years when the District actually gave tax refunds. I didn’t hear that come up in Mr. Milhalopoulos’ report.
We may not be perfect, but we perform an important service for all of Cook County.
Please consider that the District protects Lake Michigan, the source of drinking water for millions of people not only in Cook County, but in the collar counties, too. We have gone a long way in reclaiming the Chicago River, also. The five Sepa Stations that the District has built and maintain, help to provide a healthier environment in other waterways, as well.
The Tunnel and Reservoir Project is considered one of the Engineering Wonders of the World. This kind of thinking and designing doesn’t come cheap.
While I think it is important to have oversight on governmental agencies, I think it is equally important to tell the entire story.