OFF THE WIRE
http://coronadelmar.patch.com/articles/newport-beach-motorcycle-cops-may-see-pay-cut-for-washing-bikes-bonusMotorcycle Cops May Lose Bike-Washing Bonus
Newport Beach police could see their clean-and-polish pay go down the drain. The average salary boost is $4,200 a year, but the chief says it's really a form of hazard pay.
By OC Patch Staff Email the authorDecember 27, 2011 Email Print 1 Comment ‹ Back to Article new Embed | Share A police motorcycle officer on patrol in Newport Beach. Courtesy Newport Beach Police Department context Photos (2) Photos Credit Courtesy Newport Beach Police Department Credit Courtesy Newport Beach Police Department Upload Photos and Videos The days of Newport Beach motorcycle cops receiving several hundred dollars a month to wash and polish their bikes could end as the City Council, hoping to cut costs, renegotiates its police contract.
Currently, motorcycle officers are guaranteed six hours of overtime pay each month to keep their Hondas cleaned and polished. The deal was brought to light in an Orange County Register opinion piece critical of “public employee compensation shenanigans.”
The bonus ranges from $262 to $448 a month, or roughly $3,100 to $5,400 a year, depending on an officer's salary (Newport's basic police pay scale runs from $60,570 to $85,240, although "master" officers with lengthy seniority, education and other requirements can top out at $103,605 a year).
However, although the benefit is officially labeled as motorcycle-washing compensation, Police Chief Jay Johnson said the money is really a form of hazard pay (sometimes called premium or special pay), a bonus that law enforcement agencies commonly give to officers who take on more dangerous duties.
By way of comparison, motorcycle officers with the Orange County Sheriff's Department receive an extra $250 per month--or $3,000 per year--in special pay, according to spokesman John McDonald.
Part of Newport's rationale for structuring the bonus as overtime for washing motorcycles was to avoid having it factored into, and thus increase, officers' pensions, Johnson said.
However, the California Public Employees' Retirement System has since ruled such pay should be factored into pensions.
Johnson said the pay structure also avoids creating a "property right."
Newport Beach prefers to rotate officers among assignments, usually every three to five years, Johnson explained in an email to Patch earlier this year.
"With a property right, management cannot freely move officers between assignments ... if the compensation differs," he wrote. "It would amount to a pay reduction without cause."
The motorcycle-washing bonus is one of several forms of special pay—other bonuses are given for being bilingual, working undesirable hours, or having a higher degree of education—that may be scrutinized in contract negotiations with unions, according to City Council members. Contracts for police and firefighters expire Dec. 31.
Because negotiations are now under way, several city officials declined to comment last week. But, earlier this year, City Councilman Rush Hill questioned the motorcycle-washing pay, telling Patch: "As we transition to a total compensation mentality in the city, I think these kinds of extra add-on benefits will be disappearing.”
Councilman Steve Rosansky, also interviewed several months ago, likewise initially sounded skeptical: “I’d be surprised if motorcycle-washing pay made it through [contract negotiations]. I won’t support it.”
However, after hearing Johnson's hazard-pay explanation, Rosansky said, "That puts a different complexion on it."
In June, the council passed a $255-million city budget, balanced on $8 million in cuts, including layoffs and taking unfilled positions off the books. At the time, then-Mayor Mike Henn said he anticipated another $7 million to $8 million in reductions would be needed to balance next year’s budget.
The bonus for motorcycle officers “is one example in the general category of special pay that the council needs to review in terms of bargaining with unions,” Henn said earlier this year.
Rosansky added: "At the end of the day, what we're concerned with is total compensation [which includes health and other benefits] of what we're paying [versus] what other cities are paying."
Police in neighboring Huntington Beach earn a base pay of roughly $87,000 a year, plus a 5 percent hazard and bike-polishing bonus for motorcycle officers, according to police personnel manager Shirleen McNamee.
The base salary for an Orange County sheriff's deputy ranges from $61,000 to $87,700, roughly similar to Newport's basic range, plus the $3,000 motorcycle bonus.
Newport Councilman Keith Curry said cutting pension costs is a better way to save money. Special pay is just a small piece of the pie, whereas “pension reform has the potential of reducing our annual operating costs by millions,” he said in an email to Patch earlier this year.
The council already has had some success cutting other city pensions. In June, Newport lifeguards agreed to pick up more of their pension costs. Also, a second tier for retirement benefits was created. Pension payouts for newly hired lifeguards will be up to 50 percent lower than for current employees.
“We are optimistic we will get there with police and fire in 2011,” Curry wrote.
