Some Va. Beach workers see rise in salaries

VIRGINIA BEACH

In a year when most city workers received no raises because of the faltering economy, about 32 employees so far have seen their salaries rise, some as much as 15 percent.

The raises were given to retain the employees, including engineers, attorneys, technology specialists, and the parks and recreation director, or to keep their pay competitive with colleagues, City Manager Jim Spore said.

Three quarters of the employees, who stayed in their same jobs and got pay bumps, make more than $60,000. Parks and Recreation Director Cindy Curtis, who received a 4.5 percent raise to keep her from leaving the city, makes $143,331.

Several council members said they were unaware of all the salary boosts and thought they had approved a 2009-10 budget with no raises.

"I would need to find out more about it," Councilman Jim Wood said. "I thought they weren't giving raises."

The pay increases are considered "administrative raises," a category that falls outside this year's no-raise policy, Spore said.

The city has multiple raise classifications, including general raises, merit raises and promotion-based raises, he said.

The 32 employees who got administrative raises represent less than 1 percent of the city's 6,000-person work force. Department directors must document the need for the raise and it has to be cleared by Spore.

Some of the raises were given several months ago and went into effect in last year's budget.

John Moss, with the Virginia Beach Taxpayer Alliance, said that in a difficult economy, these raises create a "message mismatch" for the public and the city's work force.

"It has a corrosive effect on morale and productivity," Moss said. "It's like taking bonuses when the company is losing money."

But City Attorney Mark Stiles said the Beach has to remain competitive.

Three lawyers, including Deputy City Attorney Rod Ingram, who oversees policy and Freedom of Information Act issues, received raises. Ingram received one of the largest year-to-year salary bumps, of more than 13 percent, bringing his annual salary to $105,000 from $92,824.

A round of promotions in the city attorney's office in recent months resulted in Ingram and another deputy attorney being paid significantly less than their peers with similar job duties.

"Their salaries quite honestly weren't competitive," Stiles said. "It's not like I gave everybody in my department a bump. I thought they were justified."

Stiles said his department's entire budget has remained flat, despite the raises, because of vacancies and the departure of the former city attorney.

Usually, there are enough open positions in departments to absorb these raises, said Public Utilities Director Thomas Leahy.

Public Utilities and Public Works gave 18 of its engineers raises in the past year, and two more will get increases effective July 15. Two engineers, Franklin Hickman and Richard Lowman, received 15 percent boosts in their salaries, the highest in the city.

Virginia Beach has lost about 10 engineers to the Hampton Roads Sanitation District in the past three years, usually because of higher salaries, Leahy said. The city needs to ensure that experienced engineers who manage high-profile road and sewer projects, such as the replacement of the Lesner Bridge, remain at the Beach, Leahy said.

Even in a tight budget year, there are occasions when salary increases are necessary, said Councilman Ron Villanueva, echoing a statement repeated by several council members.

"If it's a critical position, you can justify a raise to retain folks," Villanueva said.

Pilot writer Meghan Hoyer contributed to this report.

Deirdre Fernandes, (757) 222-5121, deirdre.fernandes@pilotonline.com