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Board members and candidates for the board of the Georgetown Divide Public Utility District have made various claims regarding the salary and compensation package of General Manager Hank White as opposed to that of the general manager of the El Dorado Irrigation District, Jim Abercrombie.
Below are the salary and compensation figures provided to us by the two agencies.
Jim Abercrombie, general manager of EID, receives an annual salary of $165,000. Benefits include an auto allowance of $6,000, pension contribution of $13,200, Social Security and Medicare Tax of $9,881, Executive Wellness $2,500, and medical (including health, dental, vision, and EAP) of $31,802.
Altogether, his total compensation package is $228,383.
EID noted that in 2013, his medical payment will be reduced to approximately $19,840 due to Abercrombie voluntarily taking a lesser medical plan (which will bring his total compensation to $216,421.
In addition, Abercrombie annually receives 256 hours of paid time off (for sick leave and vacation usage) as well as 80 hours of Management Leave and one Personal Business Day.
Hank White, General Manager of GDPUD, receives an annual salary of $150,381. Benefits include use of a company vehicle (not valued) for emergency responses, Medical (including health, dental, vision) of $23,757 and life insurance of $294. He receives no contribution to his pension, Social Security, Medicare tax or Executive Wellness.
Altogether, his total compensation package is $174,432.
In addition, he receives 160 hours per year of vacation and 96 hours per year of sick leave.
Contact Dawn Hodson at 530-344-5071 or dhodson@mtdemocrat.net. Follow @DHodsonMtDemo on Twitter.
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Maria CapraunOctober 23, 2012 - 1:59 pm
The source for your information regarding White's benefits are wrong. In the 2012/2013 budget the figures White provided for his own benefits are $250,000 and his vacation accrual listed in his contract shows 1040 hours that is $75,000 cash value, the accrual per year is correct. The information you posted came from the salary survey that was provided incorrect information from the District. Social Security and Medicare are same as any employee, the District does contribute. He receives $3,654 for dental and vision care, this is at cash value. His healthcare is paid 100% by the District as the other employees must contribute to theirs. If you review the current budget page 17, the compensation package is $99,629 and the salary of $150,381 and you have a grand total of $250,010.
Cris AlarconOctober 23, 2012 - 2:03 pm
Wow, half a story! If GDPUD was equal to EID that would look like a good deal for Divide water users. Of course GDPUD is not equal to EID. It servers a population that is just 15% the number as EID. GDPUD operating revenue if just 3.6% that of EID. If the GDPUD GM was paid equal to EID GM based on the number of people in thier service area than the GDPUD GM would get $32,400 (15% the size of EID, 15% the amount of compensation). Another way to compare them is by the Operating Revenue of each. If the GDPUD GM was paid equal to EID GM based on the amount of Operating Revenue than the GDPUD GM would get $7,855 (3.6% the size of EID, 3.6% the amount of compensation). There are efficiencies of scale that makes it less expensive to serve a greater number of people but the difference is far greater than that. EID's budget is more than 25 times bigger than GDPUD and has over 220 employees. No matter how you look at it, the GM job at EID is in a different league than the GM job at GDPUD. With the EID GM running an operation 2,500% larger than the GDPUD GM, but making less than 25% more, it suddenly seems like it is not such a good deal for the ratepayers on the Divide.
Maria CapraunOctober 23, 2012 - 2:06 pm
Retirement benefit paid by the District for the General Manager at GDPUD is $59,665 each year, which you did not include in your article.
Evelyn VeerkampOctober 23, 2012 - 2:39 pm
Perhaps the Mt Dem would consider running a correction, thereby providing the wider readership with the additional compensation information. Otherwise most people will be left with a significantly misleading impression.
Pat SnellingOctober 23, 2012 - 2:44 pm
Even with the "INCORRECT" source for General Manager's package, it still comes down to 10% of every water bill in the District goes in the General Manager's pocket. IF you add the three (3) other TOP Managers, their salaries take 18% of the water bill. (And Abercrombie only takes 'point one percent' (.1%) of the water bill for EID customers. Is this about providing clean, reliable water at a reasonable cost, or is this about GM's with NICE paychecks?? . . . . Remember GDPUD's Union workers took a CUT in benefits and the GM got a $43,000 raise for doing it.
Can't the Mountain Democrat get their facts right?October 23, 2012 - 2:52 pm
Dawn Hodson's stated $13,200 of pension contribution for Abercrombie also is low by tens of thousands of dollars. The $13,200/8% contribution for Abercrombie ignores that another $30,000 or more is paid in by ratepayers to secure Abercrombie's guaranteed six-figure pension amount and make up for poor CalPERS investment returns. Dawn Hodson owes the public corrected total pension contribution information for Abercrombie in 2011 and 2012.
B. Keegan, Pilot HillOctober 24, 2012 - 9:47 am
And once again Dawn Hudson and the Mountain Democrat are either totally incompetent or totally biased or perhaps both. (Can someone please send this info to Columbia University's Graduate Study on Media Bias in Small Town Newspapers???? I found the correct information on the gdpud website in 30 seconds. Go to: http://www.gd-pud.org/financialmain.htm - select the latest budget, go to page 17 and under GM go to the Grand Total Compensation, send column from the end. Dawn I believe that says $215,290.000. Dawn you're only off by 23%. WOW! People, this is black and white information. Maybe the bigger part of the story is "What the heck is wrong with Dawn Hudson and for Richard Esposito and Mike Raffety to condone this and not issue a retraction immediately?" People go to inedc.com for the real news, or stay with the Mountain Demcrap for their fictionalized version.
Curious GeorgeOctober 24, 2012 - 9:56 am
This article stated that the information was provided by the two agencies. Dawn please be more specific. If the GDPUD GM compensation numbers were provided to you by Hank White, then hey welcome to the club! This guy will lie straight to the public (remember: "the state denied the retrofit"?); and so he will lie to a reporter just as easily. And shame on Dawn for not doing the 30 seconds of work it took B. Keegan to find the actual information on the GDPUD website financials. No contribution to his pension? Wow. It looks pretty clear to me that Ms. Capraun is absolutely correct. I'd hardly call $59,665 per year towards his CalPERS nothing. How many of us here on the Divide wouldn't love that? You'd think for the amount of $ this GM gets, that there would be some professionalism and transparency, not the total ineptness and misrepresentation we get from this clown.
pensionerOctober 24, 2012 - 10:24 am
Interesting figures. Claims to an improving economy to the contrary, the $59,665 CalPERS contribution ALONE makes many of us green with envy. What's so special about Hank White? Is he irreplaceable? Is the existing GDPUD Board irreplaceable?
Budget RealistOctober 24, 2012 - 4:15 pm
To clarify the information on page 17 of the budget report. You need to look at the 2nd to the last column for the totals. Mr. White always, always presents information in a confusing misleading manner. The complete budget's first 12 pages are just space takers and provide no real data to use in the budget calculations. When you get to page 17 the first 3 columns should be combined for easier review. The are the total amount paid to the retirement system. The 8th column is the total amount of dollars paid by GDPUD for each employee. The 9th column is the total cost of each employee. The 10th column is meant to confuse you, having no value to the budget figures. We need change at this District. The public needs to be able to understand this simple information in a simple format.