Governor says study confirms that state workers need substantial raises

Gov. Kenny Guinn said Wednesday a Personnel Department study has confirmed what state workers have been claiming for years - that they need substantial pay raises to catch up with both private and other public workers.

He said state workers are 26 percent behind other workers in the state and that city and county workers in Nevada get nearly 43 percent more in benefits.

"With the current inequity in salaries for state workers compared to those who work for city or county governments, Nevada is becoming nothing more than a training ground for other government entities," said Guinn. "We can no longer afford to lose good people because our pay scale doesn't measure up."

Guinn has already said solid pay raises for state workers are one of his top priorities for the upcoming budget. That was praised by State of Nevada Employees Association Director Bob Gagnier who said the salary inequity must be fixed to stop experienced state workers from leaving.

"The gap between the salaries paid to Nevada state workers and those paid in the Nevada marketplace is widening and is a clear cause of our excessive turnover rate," said Gagnier.

Guinn cited the Department of Motor Vehicles as an example, saying 652 employees have left in just the past 16 months, a 27 percent turnover.

And the personnel department survey shows that the problem has been getting worse over the years. The overall lag in salaries was 13.5 percent in 1994, 16.6 percent in 1996 and 17.6 percent in 1998.

According to the survey, some of the biggest gaps are in comparisons with city and county governments in Nevada - particularly in the rapidly growing south. While local governments showed an average increase of 23.4 percent since 1995, state worker pay rose just 16 percent in that period. Highest was Las Vegas at 30.8 percent followed by Henderson at 28 percent.

The only local governments on the list which the state compares well with are Washoe County and Carson City, which both reported total pay increases of 16.5 percent for their staffs since 1995.

One of the places where the pay discrepancies are greatest between state and local governments is for correctional and jail personnel. There state officers average more than 60 percent less than their local counterparts with the largest average differences in the salaries for correctional sergeants - more than 70 percent.

That is also one of the areas where the state has its highest turnover rate, and prison officials have complained for years they are nothing more than a training ground for county sheriffs and police - particularly in Southern Nevada.

In correctional pay, the state is also low when compared to other western states - an average of about 15 percent.

Gagnier said he appreciates the governor's focusing on the pay issue in developing his budget.