Cities that provide generous health care and other perks to their employees — sometimes nearly twice the amount of base salaries and largely unknown to taxpayers — were slapped Tuesday in an analysis released by the nonprofit group Transparent California.
The survey of 379 cities and 42 counties statewide, based on previously unseen 2015 public compensation data, cited the City of Industry as the worst offender in Los Angeles County. The San Gabriel Valley industrial suburb recorded a stunning 194 percent in total compensation expressed as a percentage of base pay for its 33 employees.
Driving that figure were Rolls Royce-like health care packages that rose $10,000 in one year alone to $69,524 for a single employee, said Robert Fellner, research director for the nonprofit group that maintains the state’s largest public sector compensation database. The total amount: $840,000 — for just 12 employees’ health insurance.
“I have no words,” Fellner said. “Once we eclipse $20,000 a year, what is going on? It’s incomprehensible unless it’s free spas and massages every day for you and your friends.”
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