A draft report of City of Santa Monica staffing and compensation conducted by the firm Moss Adams was released today in preparation for review by the Audit Subcommittee at the upcoming meeting on February 28, 2018. The study, which began in June 2017, reviewed policies and practices related to City employee compensation and staffing levels. The report provides observations and recommendations organized in the following categories: Wage and benefits packages, drivers of compensation and public safety overtime.
The report was informed by interviews with staff, labor unions and eleven peer cities, including data volunteered by Anaheim, Beverly Hills, Torrance and Pasadena, among others. Data was gathered from the peer cities and from the State Controller’s Office Government Compensation in California, and private sector cash compensation data was sourced from Economic Research Institute. This report includes observations and recommendations based on comprehensive data analysis. A previous draft provided to the Audit Subcommittee included early data that has now been refined and in some cases corrected. This has resulted in revisions to the report when compared to the November draft, such as police response times and staff workloads.
While the report indicates that every effort was made to get comparable data, not all information can be compared equally. Factors that contribute to this include differences in operating budgets, performance measurements, community priorities, level of outsourcing, geography, and departmental organization.
For more information about the Audit Subcommittee, meeting details and to view the report, visit https://www.smgov.net/departme
