Franklin's Two Highest Paid City Employees Have "Sweetheart" Deals

By Basil Ryan and Fred Keller

In the past few weeks, public sector employee compensation, especially union employees, has become  a high-profile policy issue in Madison and has cascaded across America. This rippling effect will have ramifications in Franklin, as well.

Before the “Madness in Madison” began over public-sector employee union contracts, we thought we would take a look at Franklin’s two highest-paid employees (non-union) and determine how the mayor and common council were treating them. We were very surprised and we believe you will be, too.

In our open records request, we learned that Mark Luberda, director of administration, had an 2010 Agreement with Franklin for a salary of $108,891.95 plus benefits. Calvin Patterson, director of finance & treasurer has an Employee Agreement with Franklin which provided for a 2010 salary of $106,923.43 plus benefits (Patterson's complete contract can be found at the bottom of this article). Both of these are cabinet officer positions which means they report directly to the mayor.

In this article we will focus on the salary and benefits of the director of finance & treasurer position and an important upcoming date.

If the mayor or common council does not take action by April 1, 2011, Patterson's contract will renew automatically for another year with its “sweetheart deals” (See Patterson contract, page 1, Section 2, Term of Employment).  After reading this article you may want to contact the mayor and your alderperson to express your concerns.

As our country was entering into the worst recession since 1991, and Franklin was slipping into a $2.5 million budget shortfall, no Resolution, as required in the Employee Agreement (See Patterson's contract. page 2, Section 2, Term of Employment), was submitted to the Franklin Common Council by the April 1 yearly deadline. In 2010 a current alderman was made aware of the impending deadline and was asked to submit a Resolution to the common council, or at least bring it to their attention. He refused, for reasons only known by the alderman. This year, THE FRANKLIN INDEPENDENT JOURNAL is going on record to notify the mayor, common council, and Franklin taxpayers of this important deadline. If no Resolution is submitted, this Employee Agreement will automatically renew for another 12-month term under the same terms and conditions with the exception of increases to salary and benefits. This means his salary and benefits will continue to increase annually.

Patterson has enjoyed an Employee Agreement since 2006 that contains these benefits and incentives:

Patterson's annual base salary with annual 3% salary increases

See Patterson's contract, page 3, Section 4 Performance Evaluation)

• 2006 – $95,000.10
• 2007 – $97,850.10
• 2008 – $100,785.60
• 2009 – $103,809.16
• 2010 – $106.923.43
• 2011 -  $110,131.13

This is an increase of 15% or $15,131.03 since 2006. Since this recession began employees have made salary concessions just to retain their job, while others have received zero or very meager salary increases during these tough economic times. Patterson has received these automatic salary and benefits while the city and Franklin taxpayers continue to face tough economic conditions.

Compensation provided in lieu of retiring

As an incentive to Patterson to continue working between the ages of 62-65, Franklin agreed (See Patterson contract; Section 3, Salary, paragraph 3) to pay him half of the current retiree benefit, while giving him full health and dental insurance during the same period of time. On average, Franklin was paying $21,037.44 to provide insurance to retirees. Patterson received half of that, $10,518.72, or $31,556.16 for those three years while he continues to work and be fully insured by Franklin. You as a taxpayer are footing this bill.  (Note: the $10,518.72 compensation was not added to the annual base salary noted above.)

In our research we found it difficult to compile all of Patterson’s benefit dollar value due to the fact that there is no central source or document for this sort of information contained in it at city hall.  Multiple staff resources were called upon to fulfill our request for Patterson’s benefit information.  

Franklin to pay three years of health insurance after retirement

The city has agreed to provide Patterson with full Employer-paid family retiree health benefit coverage for a period of three years (See contract; Section 5, number 1.)  Total cost to the taxpayer for three years coverage at the city’s current monthly rate of $1,812.50 amounts to $65,250.  It’s significant to note that Patterson is the only city employee that receives this benefit.  At age 65 all other retirees are expected to enroll in Medicare (see city’s Benefits Ordinance).

Vacation

Patterson is entitled to 160 hours of vacation annually (See Patterson contract Section 5, Benefits, number 2.).  According to the city’s Benefits Ordinance, the average non-union employee would need 12 years of service to receive 20 days (160 hours) vacation. Patterson enjoyed this benefit in less than half the time required of other Franklin employees.

Residency

During the term of the Employee Agreement, Patterson will not be required to become a resident of the City of Franklin (See Patterson contract Section 5).

Life Insurance

Patterson will be provided life insurance at least equal to two times the employee’s annualized bi-weekly base salary (See contract Section 5).

Cell phone

Patterson will be provided with a city-paid cell phone for business purposes and minimal personal use (See contract Section 5).

Professional Fees

Franklin will pay all professional fees (See Patterson contract; Section 5 Benefits, number 5.)

Franklin will pay Business–related Travel and Entertainment Expenses (See Patterson contract, Section 5 Benefits, number 6.)

After reviewing the Finance expenditure reports, we noted a pattern. It appears that Patterson absorbs almost all the budget dollars allocated for conferences and schools. For the past three years, this cost Franklin taxpayers was $6,278.97.

Additional open records requests regarding the expenses for conferences and schools are pending. The Franklin Independent Journal has raised additional questions and has asked for clarification pertaining to policies and procedures. Watch for a future story.

Governor Walker and state legislators have insisted that the rationale behind the passage of the new budget laws were needed to put the tools in the hands of local government to overcome the cuts that will be passed down from the state to local government. From what we have learned and shared with our readers about city management employees’ salary and benefits deals outlined here, The Franklin Independent Journal believes it will be difficult for the City of Franklin to win any type of concessions from their union and non-union employees as long as one of the top two city officials enjoys such lucrative compensation package.   Franklin doesn't need any help from the governor and legislature to deal with the Employee Agreement it created with Cal Patterson. They just need to demonstrate common sense and fairness when dealing with all employees and leading by example.    

A follow-up story focusing on Mark Luberda's—the highest paid city employee—Employment Agreement will be published soon.

Patterson Employment Contract (Highlighted)

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