Orange County Managers Take $4.4 Million in Cash Perk. Orange County has laid off 210 social services workers, and more layoffs are expected, but that hasn't kept county administrators from accepting more than $4.4 million in cash bonuses through the county's "optional benefit plan." The money is meant to be used to pay for education and career improvement courses, but instead is being used as a cash bonus, with recipients failing to disclose how the cash has been spent.
Nick Berardino, head of the Orange County Employees Association, complained that the county should be cutting perks before people. "They're scamming," he said. "It's more management manipulation to line their pockets." Mr. Berardino estimated that the perks would have covered the salaries of nearly half the laid-off social workers.
Orange County Executive Director Thomas Mauk said the "optional benefit plan" was negotiated into the management contract as a legitimate way to help administrators pay for uncovered medical, educational and child-care costs. "It helps our employees deal with their individual issues," Mauk said. (Source: Orange County Register, January 7.)
Cal-Taxletter, January 9, 2009
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