Big raises, bonuses at one Arizona agency, as state social workers get $1-a-day bump
Craig Harris
Arizona state personnel chief Craig Brown told key lawmakers last year that state employees were so poorly paid that their wages were nearly 19 percent below market value, and it would take $271 million just to make them whole.
But Brown told legislative leaders to postpone any salary increases, noting that agency directors were given the flexibility to provide staff raises and bonuses by carefully managing their budgets.
Brown, appointed by Gov. Doug Ducey, took his own advice.
Through layoffs and cost savings within his agency, Brown's Arizona Department of Administration gave at least 245 employees — roughly half of the staff — pay raises that average 18 percent, or an $11,496 increase.
The pay increases at ADOA occurred from January 2015 to September 2017, and they ranged from 1 percent to 125 percent, records show.
The Arizona Republic analyzed salary data obtained from the state under the Arizona Public Records Law to determine how many raises and bonuses were given, their value and their average size.
Brown on Monday said most of those who received double-digit raises were in high-demand areas and were paid less than their counterparts in other public-sector agencies.
Megan Rose, ADOA spokeswoman, said the majority of those getting raises were promoted and given additional job duties. She added that those ADOA employees in critical-need areas — accounting and risk management, for example — were given raises in order to retain their services.
Rose added that ADOA staff found the state roughly $70 million in cost savings, primarily through controls on purchasing, during the past two fiscal years.
Rose was among those getting a raise: a 10 percent hike that lifted her annual salary to $115,000 six months after being hired. Rose said she negotiated her pay raise, as the larger figure was what she was paid in the private sector.
The consumer price index for metro Phoenix during roughly that same time period as ADOA employees received raises was 4.2 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
That means ADOA workers, on average, received raises about four times greater than the average pay raise for all public and private sector workers, including promotions.
In addition, ADOA employees on at least 810 occasions received bonuses of $1,000 or more, records show.
Agency employees received 1,361 bonuses totaling $2 million, with some receiving multiple bonuses in the 496-person agency that acts as the state personnel office. Individual bonus amounts ranged from $50 to $7,560.
Robert Woods, the state's government transformation office manager, received three bonuses of $5,000, $5,040 and $7,560. He also was given an 11 percent raise, lifting his pay to $140,000 annually.
Brown said Woods was responsible for many of the cost-saving measures undertaken by his agency for the state.
Brown, who is paid $215,250 annually, did not receive a raise.
During the Ducey administration's tenure, wages for ADOA employees have, on average, increased 16 percent to $72,412.
That is a marked increase compared to wages at the state Department of Child Safety, whose director has said his caseworkers are dealing with a crisis in finding homes for roughly 16,000 kids in state care.
Under Ducey, Child Safety workers have seen their pay on average increase less than 1 percent to $41,676.
There were 2,591 Child Safety workers this year who received an average bonus of $302 — less than $1 a day. This year, ADOA paid out 577 bonuses averaging $1,154.
Brown said such comparisons are unfair because he has no control over how Child Safety or other agencies pay their employees. Calls to Child Safety were not returned.
However, Brown acknowledged that he has the power each year, through his annual state workforce report, to influence the state Senate president and speaker of the House on how much all state employees should be paid. He said he would consider that in next year's letter to lawmakers.
In this year's letter, sent earlier this month, Brown offered no advice on whether lawmakers should raise the pay of state employees, noting state employee pay on average had improved but remained at least 13 percent below market.
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Raises in Ducey's office
Brown's agency, which reports directly to Ducey, is not the only one to have bucked salary trends.
Earlier this year, The Republic found Ducey's own office had given 44 staff members raises of up to 20 percent each since Ducey took office, with some getting multiple bumps in pay.
The governor also promoted at least 40 employees, with their salaries increasing by amounts ranging from 5 to 100 percent. Just more than one-fourth of those receiving additional pay from promotions also received merit pay raises.
The average raise for a Ducey staffer was 11 percent since he took office.
Most state employees have not had general pay hikes in recent years. However, average pay for state workers has increased 4.2 percent, to $45,981, since Ducey took office because of merit raises to select workers.
Ducey has been highly critical of The Republic's reporting on the raises and bonuses he gave his staff, calling the stories "devoid of context" and saying they painted a "lopsided and distorted view of reality."
The governor has said the raises and bonuses were offered after he laid off staff and required more work from other employees. And, he added, his office did not get an increase in funding from the Legislature.
Ducey, however, has not challenged the accuracy of the figures. They were based on data that came from his administration and analyzed by The Republic.
Teachers have been outraged at the large raises Ducey gave his staff. The governor this year recommended less than one percent in raises for teachers because of the state's austere budget. They ended up with one percent, equating to one-time stipends of roughly $300.
Teachers have vowed to seek raises of 20 percent through a ballot measure.
Ducey's office on Monday said the governor has delivered on his promise to shrink state government, noting that since he took office the workforce is down by 4,862 employees, to 33,222, as of July 30.
Many of those reductions came from mass firings in the first two years of Ducey's administration. The Republic last year found the majority of those fired were 40 or older, a protected class of employees under federal labor laws. Veteran workers typically have higher wages, are more expensive to insure and have additional pension costs.
Dozens of women and minorities told The Republic they were targeted as part of the state's downsizing. Ducey's office has said no employees were targeted.
"By fostering an innovative and efficient environment, we’re reducing the size of government, investing in our employees for internal career advancement, and providing agency directors with the flexibility to reward their employees for hard work when the budget permits," the Governor's Office said in a statement.
Reach the reporter at craig.harris@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-8478 or on Twitter @charrisazrep.
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