'Abysmal' public servant pay study sparks debate over Baton Rouge weighty pension plans
A recent study reveals that East Baton Rouge City-Parish employees earn far less than their counterparts in most comparable regions.
Although city-parish salaries fall short, workers enjoy robust retirement and pension plans. Some parish leaders are raising the question: could restructuring benefits help close the pay gap, instead of offering minimal wages now while funding a costly future payout?
On Sept. 25, a report on the city-parish-commissioned study into salary conducted by consulting firm Management Advisory Group were presented to Metro Council members.
And according to the group’s top executive, the results don’t look good.
“Your salaries are abysmal,” said Senior Executive Advisor Russell Campbell. “And I’m saying that nicely. Abysmal.”
Minimum salary for a Baton Rouge cop is currently around $36,300. That figure should be closer to $52,600, the study found.
In early childhood education, Head Start coaches start at $27,828. About 20% less than the $35,000 recommended by the study, which is based off data collected at the start of 2024.
In total, if the city-parish was to adjust salaries to what the study recommends, it would come at an additional cost of about $20 million annually.
The low wages are a primary factor for several staffing issues plaguing local government, Campbell explained, particularly the parish’s struggle to attract and retain talent.
Which is one reason why District 5 Metro Council member Darryl Hurst thinks its time to consider something new.
An ‘unsustainable’ system
Hurst said it was his push that led to the 180-day study being commissioned.
The Democrat council member said raising salaries while offering a restructured plan like a 401K not only reflects the current wants of the current work force, as millennials and Gen Z workers prioritize pay over benefits, but better pay also motivates city-parish employees to better serve area residents.
“The people in the city-parish want top notch services,” Hurst said. “You don’t go to McDonald’s looking for Ruth’s Chris wait staff.”
Under the current system, a 25-year employee is eligible for a 75% retirement allowance.
For an employee who makes $50,000 a year, this means the city-parish not only pays out that salary annually, but it also pays $37,500 into a pension account.
Campbell called this “unsustainable,” as typical local or state government averages about 30-38% in fringe benefit payments rather than the 75% offered in East Baton Rouge Parish.
While the future benefit of a robust pension might sound lucrative, it is becoming increasingly rare for workers to stick with an employer for decades, both Hurst and Campbell noted. Many will work for six or seven different organizations over the course of a career now.
For Hurst, this is all more reason to switch things up, as many need to moonlight to pay the bills at the cost of their home life.
“Look at our DPW workers, they work 40 hours a week and work two more jobs to make ends meet,” Hurst said. “They lose time with their families … we have broken households in our parish. We should have those family values in (mind) with what we do from a workforce standpoint too.”
The District 5 representative cited an example of discovering that while his Metro Council legislative aide’s salary amounts to $53,000 a year, the actual cost of their employment is significantly higher.
“Total compensation is $88,500 which means $35,500-worth of benefits,” he said. “That blew my mind. No small business could survive with those benefit costs and pinching that heavy.”
Restructuring a ‘non-starter’
While Hurst and those behind the study might think a cheaper benefit plan would provide the answer to the parish’s substandard pay, others disagree.
Though he hadn’t yet gotten the chance to take the temperature of the those he represents, speaking as someone familiar with a major contingent of city workers, Baton Police Union spokesperson Bill Profita is more than hesitant to endorse the restructuring of benefits.
“If you’re going to tell people — whose benefits plan is basically a big part of the reason they stay — that you want to restructure that, that’s a non-starter,” he said.
Still, Profita said there is a serious problem with police pay in Baton Rouge, but the solution needs to be found outside of restructuring benefits, as BRPD is regularly hemorrhaging talent to other forces.
Last month, Metro Council failed to roll forward a handful of mills that would’ve provided the opportunity to fund raises for local public safety agencies.
“They’re not going to get their raises,” Profita said. “I don’t know when last time EMS had a raise. They’re running so many calls right now, they’re doing nothing but overtime.”
Taking away the end goal of a robust pension would only make more of these workers depart for greener pastures, he said.
If any changes were to be made to city-parish employees’ retirement benefits, those presently employed would be grandfathered into the current system as required by local law. A future date would need to be decided for the new benefit system to go into effect for new hires.
Changing with the times
District 4 Metro Council member Aaron Moak anticipated the pay-study would show a significant pay gap but said he was “shocked” when he saw how much money was being sunk into benefits.
“That’s where municipalities get just absolutely decimated,” Moak said. “(We’ve) got to be able to look at changing structures and changing (with) the times.”
A former firefighter, Moak said his starting pay with the fire department was $13,000 in the 1990s. The Republican council member said benefits and retirement were much more important than salary for he and other workers of the era than they are for workers today.
The city-parish’s current benefit system does not align with those earlier in their careers today like Moak’s Gen Z children, he said.
“They’re making great money, great pay. They don’t even look at the benefits part,” Moak said. “They know that they can move job to job and don’t mind moving job to job … and (they) have options with 401Ks, which really weren’t around back then.”
A switch to a more modern benefit structure might not only reflect today’s workforce but would also save the city-parish in the long run.
“We’ve got to look at third party options and what’s the norm out there,” Moak said. “What third party companies out there are able to offer more benefits or offer close to the same but at a lower cost to us as a municipality? That, to me, is what we need to go after.”
Future budgets and the City of St. George
Following the presentation of the pay-study report to Metro Council on Sept. 25, East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome released a statement reminding many of a looming component bringing uncertainty to future city-parish budgets.
“As we know, while this study was being carried out, the outcome of the City of St. George incorporation case and its resulting transition timetable became a reality facing us now and in 2025,” Broome wrote.
Departments have been planning to take a financial hit, as St. George’s incorporation will cause the city-parish to lose significant tax revenue, though the exact amount of which is still unknown.
While, negotiations with the new city’s leaders are ongoing, at a campaign event this week Broome said she believes the two parties are close to an agreement. Still, the mayor expects the lost revenue to affect changes to get employee salaries up to par.
“This means that, as we look to implement the report’s recommendations over the coming years, we will not be able to move as quickly as I would have liked in raising the pay of City-Parish employees,” Broome said.