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SLO council approves $2,000 bonuses for management employees

April 6, 2017

The San Luis Obispo City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a plan to hand one-time payments of $2,000 to 93-management level employees, including City Manager Katie Lichtig and City Attorney Christine Dietrick.

City human resources staff proposed the one-time payments in order to compensate management employees for receiving less in city health insurance contributions than members of the San Luis Obispo City Employees Association (SLOCEA). The lump-sum payments will also serve as a low-cost alternative to cost of living increases and will incentivize hard work and leadership, city staffers say.

San Luis Obispo is currently facing a projected budget shortfall of more than $5 million in the 2021-2022 fiscal year. By that time, the city’s annual pension payment to the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) is projected to nearly double from around $11.7 million to $20 million.

The skyrocketing pension costs largely stem from a decision the CalPERS Board of Administration made in December to lower the retirement system’s discount rate from 7.5 percent to 7 percent. The change in the discount rate, or return on investment expectation, will be phased in over a three-year span, starting in the 2018-2019 fiscal year.

On Tuesday, the council approved the $2,000 bonuses as part of a compensation package for the 93 management-level employees that spans the next 15 months. In addition to approving the bonus payments, the council approved increases to the management employees’ health and life insurance benefits.

The bonus payments will cost a total of $186,000, while the benefit increases will cost about $65,000 annually, according to a city staff report. The new compensation package raises the city’s contribution to management employee health insurance by 5 percent, bringing their health benefits in line with those of SLOCEA members.

SLO’s management-class employees consist of Lichtig, Dietrick, nine department heads and 82 other managerial-level staffers. Lichtig already receives more than $300,000 a year in salary and benefits, and Detrick receives around $270,000 annually in total compensation. Both Lichtig and Dietrick received $5,000 retention bonuses last year.

City officials are proposing freezing salaries for nearly half of the 93 employees in the management group over the next 15 months.


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This city should now be referred to as U.S.S.R, as in Union of Slo Socialiist Republic. We treat the homeless better than our elderly, the local govenrment employees are treated better than the citizens who pay the taxes to support the gubment. I thought No Fun Obispo was bad enough when Marx was establishing an ordinance against anythig fun. Now we continue puking money at a bloated city gubment.

i still see the “community services” vehicles around town. I thought the rental ordinance was put on hold? Did the manager of that newly established cost center get a $2,000 bonus for a program that was repealed? ENOUGH ALREADY!!!!


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I guess I must be lost. How in the heck can that completely stupid city council give out money like that to staff when there is the multi-million dollar pension deficit? Why are we giving the overpaid dingbat Katie money when She is costing taxpayers so much money in defending the fire department charade? Time to charge into city hall with pitchforks and hanging nooses.


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standup: In answer to your first question…SITTING DOWN. Too many registered SLO city voters sit down and refuse to get minimally “involved” by VOTING. SLO City Council members are in their respective seats not because they were dropped in by helicopter – they were VOTED in! Now the voters get what they “bargained” for.


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Not sure what, if anything, the people can really do anymore.

They really just count on the bulk of the people not paying attention.


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What are the Council members smoking? Not one voted against this rip off of the taxpayers!


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They’re all “green.”


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You must mean ‘green’ as in new since 3 of them are new. None of them are ‘green’ meaning environmentalists and they’ve proven they don’t give a whack about nature or the environment.


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“City human resources staff proposed the one-time payments in order to compensate management employees for receiving less in city health insurance contributions than members of the San Luis Obispo City Employees Association (SLOCEA). The lump-sum payments will also serve as a low-cost alternative to cost of living increases and will incentivize hard work and leadership, city staffers say.”

Whose fault is it that the represented employees bargained for more insurance contributions..and got them….CITY MANAGEMENT…they agreed to the contract!

All this smoke and mirrors means more taxes and larger pension down the road.

Ask the taxpayers what they think…..


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Past mayor Jan Marx said that there was no tax $ she would not spend and that approach is amped up with Mayor Heidi – cutie pie Harmon where they need to TAKE more of YOUR $ so they can put it into their POCKETS.


This is THEFT. If you want to give out money first EARN it and retire other government costs and reduce the over all GOVERNMENT burden.


You all in SLO will voter yourselves back in so until you get mugged personally by this you are happy to steal from the taxpayer.


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“The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.” – Margaret Thatcher


The problem with our government, be it federal, state, or local is that they think the money never runs out and they don’t hesitate to print (federal) or confiscate more when they are worried that it will.


I hate them all!


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A dirty little secret? They don’t even *print” money anymore, really. It’s all digital. In the public sector bail-out (started by Bush, and gladly paid by Obama) aka TARP, all the top-tier banks did was, in effect, add a 0 (zero) to the end of a balance or deposit item. Nothing ever existed.


Money is not real, but if we all believe it is, then it will be treated like it is. I think politicians just realized this and laugh at the rest of us who still have “full faith and credit” in the market (of money). Fiat currencies, indeed.


Finally, there is absolutely no way for the U.S. (or any nation) to “get out of debt” because we all have a debt-based economy; that is, the money we use to pay for debt is created as a debt. Basically, using only a credit card to pay off debts will never get one out of debt.


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I don’t understand why we pay ant taxes. If government just continues to spend, increase debt limits and pay off borrowed money with more borrowed money, why do the scumbags even tax us at all?


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It’s the Democrat socialist progressive Sandernista voters of the city of San Luis Obispo who continue to support the ‘distribution of wealth’ from the taxpayers to the public employees. Some people are more equal than others. Now where did I read that? Oh yeh..Animal Farm by socialist George Orwell who said: “some pigs are more equal than others!” The SLO Progressives are on the move. Fasten your seat belts.


And don’t get me started on the city council resolution that welcomes illegals into the city. Gotta smile in this upside down world today.


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Not smiling! :-(


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The People’s Republic of San Luis Obispo…..just pathetic!


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