Sandy councilman defends bonuses

SANDY — A Sandy city councilman defended his city's employee bonus policy Tuesday but said he would like to see it reviewed in detail during ongoing budget discussions.

Councilman Bryant Anderson said he is and has been aware of the bonuses, which were recently made public following years of lawsuits. The extra money allows the city to retain quality employees, he said. But Anderson isn't without reservations.

"There is some concern on the council about the proportion," he said, referring to the fact that department managers have historically received greater percentage bonuses than some other staffers.

Council member Linda Martinez-Seville declined to comment on the bonuses, saying the council as a whole had not discussed the situation. She did not know whether a discussion was planned.

Meanwhile, just one Sandy resident addressed the council about the bonuses during Tuesday's busy public meeting.

Richard Sealey was in favor of the bonuses and even proposed that city administrators be paid more.

"For the rank-and-file employees, it's none of their business what a manager makes," he said, adding that he thought it was fine for Sandy to be run like a corporation.

Sandy spokeswoman Trina Duerkson said the bonuses have been in place for years. Sandy decided to not make information about the bonus program public on the advice of University of Utah professor Richard Green, who told the city keeping the compensation secret would benefit the workplace.

"Now we're trying to see, 'Can we use this (publicity) as an advantage?"' she said.

Bonuses are tied to employee evaluations, Duerkson said. The same evaluations determine cost of living and merit raises.

The program annually costs the city a few hundred thousand dollars a year. That amount is flexible based on other needs and economic factors, Anderson said.

Sandy's annual budget is in the range of tens of millions of dollars. A tentative budget adopted Tuesday by the City Council puts the 2008-2009 budget at close to $100 million. Last year, the estimated budget was $176 million.

Of those totals, $39 million is projected to be spent on personnel this year compared to $36 million spent on personnel in the 2007-2008 budget year.

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E-mail: rpalmer@desnews.com

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