Nevada public employees ninth highest paid in nation

CARSON CITY -- The Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce has found what anyone who has been following the saga of firefighters in Clark County abusing their sick leave already knew: Firefighters are paid more in Nevada than almost anyplace in the nation.

In fact, the latest chamber study, found the typical Nevada firefighter was paid 49 percent more in pay in 2009 than counterparts in other states and local governments around the country. That's second highest in the country.

The third annual chamber study of salaries also found that Nevada public employees in general are the ninth highest paid in the nation, receiving average pay of $56,872 in 2009. That is 13 percent higher than the national average of $50,187.

State government worker pay -- which averaged $56,668 in 2009 -- is 7 percent higher than the national $52,895 average for all state government workers.

The study comes at a time of more public and legislative scrutiny of public worker pay and benefits as local governments and the state itself are trying to deal with declining revenues. Nevada's cities and counties have trimmed public employee salaries and benefits, and Gov. Brian Sandoval is asking state workers to take 5 percent salary cuts. Critics have even called for the elimination of collective bargaining for public employees to save money.

The chamber survey was prepared by the Applied Analysis research firm from U.S. Census data.

"As our state and local governments struggle to make the most with our depleted resources, it makes absolutely no sense that we continue to pay local government employees well beyond the national average and reward them with the most generous retirement benefits in the country, while we are being forced to cut K-12 education, higher education, infrastructure and human services," said Hugh Anderson, chairman of the chamber's Government Affairs Committee.

According to the chamber study, firefighters' pay reached a new high. The average firefighter in Nevada was paid $99,777 a year compared with a $67,018 national average.

Police officers also are highly paid in Nevada compared with elsewhere. In Nevada, a typical police officer is paid $82,382, or 25 percent above the $65,752 national average, the study found.

But the study found some public employees -- principally teachers -- are underpaid in Nevada in comparison with their colleagues around the United States. Elementary and secondary school teachers received $50,444 average pay in 2009, or 96 percent of the national average of $52,305, while higher education instructors were paid $68,529, or 91 percent of the $75,748 national average.

Despite less-than-average pay, teacher pay in Nevada is 18th among the states, according to the study. Higher education instructors, however, rank 34th.

But the salaries received by many of the workers cited in the study probably now are less than what they were paid in 2009. State workers have been required to take one unpaid furlough day per month since July 2009. That furlough, in effect, cuts their pay by 4.6 percent.

In his two-year budget, Gov. Brian Sandoval proposes ending furloughs and simply requiring state employees, including teachers and community college and university professors, to take 5 percent pay cuts. He also wants all public school teachers to take another 7 percent cut to cover increased retirement costs and help reduce Public Employment Retirement System liabilities. Under his proposal, a beginning teacher in Clark County, who is paid $35,000, would receive $30,800, according to the Nevada State Education Association.

In addition, the study found Nevada continues to "rank dead last" among all states in the number of public employees on a per capita basis. In Nevada, there were 43.6 public employees per 1,000 population in 2009.

Vishnu Subramaniam, chief of staff for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union Local 4041, said the latter statistic needs to be emphasized.

Public employees in Nevada might be paid a little more, but they are doing a lot more work, he said.

"The taxpayers in Nevada are getting the biggest bang for the buck," said Subramaniam, who did not dispute the figures cited in the study. "We want a confident, effective state work force and we are getting the maximum output for what we are paying."

But Subramaniam said the chamber is trying to make the public employee in Nevada "the bad guy."

Cara Roberts, the chamber's senior director of communications, said the chamber is not against union members or public employees.

"The chamber's goal is to present data and information that hopefully lawmakers and others will look at as they make important policy decisions," she said.

Most categories of local government employees in Nevada, the survey found, are paid salaries that rank them with employees in the top five states in the nation, she said.

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.