King County's heady benefits for employees

AS governments come up short, they should consider spending cuts first and tax increases last. King County, which wants a utility tax, has indeed made some spending cuts, but not enough to justify praise.

King County's contracts call for cost-of-living (COLA) increases between 2 percent and 6 percent a year for most contracts, 3 percent to 6 percent for the bus drivers and a flat 5 percent for police.

Under these contracts, most King County employees received a 4.88-percent cost-of-living adjustment in January. Many employees also get "step" increases for rising into a new pay grade. A step up to grade 2 was worth another 4.85 percent; to grade 3 another 2.4 percent, and so on.

These are nice raises — and puzzling at a time when Budget Director Bob Cowan says the county is facing a $43.4 million projected deficit. At state government, employees can expect zero cost-of-living raises for two years, though they will still get paygrade raises. In Kent, employees took cuts — not big ones, but cuts nonetheless.

King County has responded to the recession by negotiating a sharp increase in co-pays next year, though it will still not require employees to pick up any of the cost of health insurance, currently $1,171 a month.

That compares with $691 the state pays for its employees, who pick up 12 percent of the premiums. King County employees will take 10 unpaid days off this year, mostly to create four-day holiday weekends. For those represented by unions, however, five of this year's furlough days will be offset in 2010 — not by adding days of work, but by adding days of paid vacation. Ask yourself: How does this compare to employees outside the county's budget?

This recession is a serious thing. The Metropolitan King County Council should adopt the resolution by Kathy Lambert setting COLA minimums on future contracts at zero during a revenue shortfall. We would go further, but that is at least a step.