by Michael D. Robbins
Director, Public Safety Project, PublicSafetyProject.org
August 17, 2010
SWORN POLICE OFFICERS
Generally, El Segundo sworn police officers, from lowest level Police Officer up to Police Captain, are by far the highest paid city employees except for sworn firefighters. Police Chief David Cummings was by far the highest paid city employee in calendar year 2009.
Highest Paid El Segundo City Employee in Calendar Year 2009
Former El Segundo Police Chief David Cummings, who retired in 2009 with about eleven weeks left in the year, had total 2009 compensation of about $596,657, including his city contract and CalPERS pension income while he continued working as the El Segundo Police Chief after his retirement. Cummings’ post-retirement City employment contract acknowledged that he would be receiving his $210,000 per year CalPERS pension income while he continued working as the City’s police chief after his retirement.
Police Chief David Cummings’ calendar year 2009 total compensation and CalPERS pension income
The following table itemizes former El Segundo Police Chief David Cummings’ calendar year 2009 total compensation and CalPERS pension income. Below this table are links to download files containing the same data in various file formats.
Note: This Public Records Act request data was provided by the City of El Segundo, California on December 15, 2010 in response to a PRA request made by Michael D. Robbins on December 5, 2010. It is provided here as a courtesy of Michael D. Robbins and the Public Safety Project, P.O. Box 2193, El Segundo, CA 90245, PublicSafetyProject.org. The estimated (calculated) data and additional data annotations were provided by Michael D. Robbins.
| David Cummings – El Segundo, California Police Chief Paid in Calendar Year 2009 |
|
| Pay and Income for the first 41 weeks (289 days) of 2009 (1/1/09-10/16/09): | |
| Regular Earnings | 225,627 |
| Special Compensation (Uniform Allowance) | 480 |
| Regular Earnings + Special Comp | 226,107 |
| Leave Payout (Vacation and Sick Leave Payout) | 199,668 |
| Total Earnings | 425,775 |
| CalPERS Pension – Employer Contribution – Paid by the Employer (City) | 48,894 |
| Percentage of Regular Earnings + Special Comp – Paid by the Employer (City) | 21.6% |
| CalPERS Pension – Employee Contribution – Paid by the Employer (City) | 16,755 |
| Percentage of Regular Earnings + Special Comp – Paid by the Employer (City) | 7.4% |
| CalPERS Pension – Employee Contribution – Paid by the Employee | 0 |
| Percentage of Regular Earnings + Special Comp – Paid by the Employee | 0.0% |
| CalPERS Pension – Employee Contribution – Total Amount Paid | 16,755 |
| Percentage of Regular Earnings + Special Comp | 7.4% |
| TOTAL CALPERS PENSION CONTRIBUTIONS PAID BY THE EMPLOYER (CITY) | 65,649 |
| Percentage of Regular Earnings + Special Comp – Total Paid by the Employer (City) | 29.0% |
| NOTE: CalPERS pension contributions were made for the period 1/1/09-10/16/09 (41 weeks) | |
| 401(a) Deferred Compensation Plan | |
| 401(a) Deferred Compensation Plan – Amount Paid by Employer (City) | 11,592 |
| 401(a) Deferred Compensation Plan – Amount Paid by the Employee | 0 |
| 401(a) Deferred Compensation Plan – Total Amount Paid | 11,592 |
| Annual Regular Earnings + Special Comp for period 9/27/08-9/25/09 | 231,839 |
| Percentage of Regular Earnings + Special Comp | 5.0% |
| Total Insurance Benefits Paid by the Employer (City) | |
| A D & D | 17 |
| Dental | 853 |
| Life Insurance | 154 |
| Long Term Disability | 692 |
| Executive Long Term Disability | 1,031 |
| Vision | 168 |
| TOTAL | 2,915 |
| Post-Employment Health Insurance for 11/09 & 12/09 | 2,302 |
| 2009 TOTAL EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION | 508,233 |
| Pay and Income for the last 11 weeks (76 days) of 2009 (10/17/09-12/31/09): | |
| Estimated Contract Employee Pay | 43,956 |
| (At $111 per hour x 36 hours per week average x 11 weeks) | |
| Estimated CalPERS Pension Double-Dipping Income | 44,468 |
| (At $210,213.36 per year for 11 weeks) | |
| ESTIMATED TOTAL 2009 EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION AND PENSION INCOME | 596,657 |
| (All pension income was obtained while “double-dipping” by working as a contract employee El Segundo City Police Chief) |
|
El Segundo Police Chief David Cummings’ calendar year 2009 total compensation and pension income data
Here are links to view and download El Segundo Police Chief David Cummings’ calendar year 2009 total compensation and pension income in various file formats:
Click here to view or download a PDF file containing the formatted spreadsheet of former El Segundo Police Chief David Cummings’ calendar year 2009 total compensation and pension income. (20.3 KB PDF file)
Click here to view an HTML file containing the formatted spreadsheet of former El Segundo Police Chief David Cummings’ calendar year 2009 total compensation and pension income. (40.8 KB HTML files)
Click here to download an XLSX (Microsoft Excel 2007) file containing the formatted spreadsheet of former El Segundo Police Chief David Cummings’ calendar year 2009 total compensation and pension income. (16.6 KB EXCEL 2007 Spreadsheet file)
Click here to view or download an XLS (Microsoft Excel 97-2003) file containing the formatted spreadsheet of former El Segundo Police Chief David Cummings’ calendar year 2009 total compensation and pension income. (45.0 KB EXCEL 97-2003 Spreadsheet file)
Click here to view or download a TXT (tab-delimited text) file containing the unformatted spreadsheet data of former El Segundo Police Chief David Cummings’ calendar year 2009 total compensation and pension income. (3.24 KB Tab Delimited Text Data file)
El Segundo Police Chief David Cummings’ after-retirement City employment contract:
Click here to view or download a PDF file containing the formatted text of former El Segundo Police Chief David Cummings’ after-retirement City employment contract. (28.5 KB PDF file)
Click here to view or download an RTF file containing the formatted text of former El Segundo Police Chief David Cummings’ after-retirement City employment contract. (9.82 KB RTF file)
Click here to view or download a TXT file containing the unformatted text of former El Segundo Police Chief David Cummings’ after-retirement City employment contract. (8.36 KB TXT file)
Click here to view or download a PDF file containing a bitmap scan of former El Segundo Police Chief David Cummings’ after-retirement City employment contract. (249 KB PDF file)
Click here to view or download a PDF file containing the Public Records Act response data for former El Segundo Police Chief David Cummings’ after-retirement City employment contract. (11.2 KB PDF file)
Regular Earnings, Leave Payout, and Pension Benefit Spike
Police Chief David Cummings received a 23% pay increase effective October 1, 2008, which spiked his 2009 total earnings and leave payout, and his annual pension. The raise spiked his regular earnings by $42,190 (from $183,437 to $225,627), and his accumulated vacation and sick leave payout (cash-out) value by $37,336 (from $162,332 to $199,668), for a total earnings spike of $79,527. His annual pension was spiked by an estimated $39,308 (from $170,905 to $210,213).
Police officers and firefighters are credited and allowed to accumulate and roll-over from year to year huge numbers of vacation and sick leave hours, which can be cashed out at a higher pay rate in later years and upon retirement. His total 2009 earnings was $425,775 – consisting of $225,627 Regular Earnings, $480 Special Compensation, and $199,668 Leave Payout. He retired in 2009 with a pension of $210,213.36 yearly ($17,517.78 monthly) according to CaliforniaPensionReform.com, plus medical insurance, for the rest of his life.
The following table summarizes Police Chief David Cummings’ spikes resulting from his 23% raise.
| Regular Earnings | Special Comp. | Overtime | Leave Payout | Total Earnings | Yearly Pension | |
| Before 23% Raise | 183,437 | 480 | 0 | 162,332 | 346,248 | 170,905 |
| After 23% Raise | 225,627 | 480 | 0 | 199,668 | 425,775 | 210,213 |
| Spike Amount | 42,190 | 0 | 0 | 37,336 | 80,007 | 39,308 |
The reason given for his 23% pay raise that spiked his pay, leave payout, and pension was salary compaction, also known as salary compression, caused by (large) pay increases given to the police union members.
The 2008-2011 three-year EL Segundo Police Officers Association union contract, MOU # 3929, commencing on July 1, 2008, and ending on September 30, 2011, was approved by the El Segundo City Council on April 7, 2009 as Consent Agenda item #12 on the Revised Agenda.
Click HERE to download the Revised Agenda for the April 7, 2009 El Segundo City Council Meeting from the official City website, and scroll down to the staff report for Consent Agenda item #12 on pages 59-60 of the PDF file, and further down to the MOU on pages 61-93:
http://www.ElSegundo.org/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?blobid=6212
The 2008-2011 three-year contract gave the Police Officers and Police Sergeants 15% in raises (15.8% compounded) over three years during the 2008-2010 recession. The first 5% raise was retroactive to six months before the contract was approved. The raises were as follows:
- A 5% salary increase for Police Officers and Police Sergeants, retroactively effective October 14, 2008.
- A 5% salary increase for Police Officers and Police Sergeants, effective July 1, 2009.
- A 5% salary increase for Police Officers and Police Sergeants, effective July 1, 2010.
The third 5% raise is not reflected in the 2009 Total Earnings. In addition, half of the second 5% raise is not reflected in the 2009 Regular Earnings and Overtime Earnings. This second 5% raise is not reflected in any vacation and sick leave hours cashed-out before July 1, 2009.
According to Schedule 2 on page 93 of the agenda PDF file, the 2008-2011 three-year contract also gave a 5% “Step Raise” (15.8% compounded) in each of the four years after the year an employee is promoted or appointed to a Police Officer position. The three 5% annual contract raises together with three of those four 5% Step Raises are equivalent to a 34.0% raise when compounded.
The 2008-2011 three-year Police Managers Association union contract, commencing on July 1, 2008, and ending on September 30, 2011, gave the Police Captains 23% in raises (25.0% compounded) and Police Lieutenants 18% in raises (19.2% compounded) over three years during the 2008-2010 recession. The first pay raise (4% for Captains and Lieutenants) was retroactive to 9 months before the contract was approved. The second raise (9% for Captains and 4% for Lieutenants) was retroactive to 6 months before the contract was approved.
The pay raises as follows:
- A 4% salary increase for Police Lieutenants and Police Captains, retroactively effective July 1, 2008.
- A 9% salary increase for Police Captains and a 4% salary increase for Police Lieutenants, retroactively effective October 1, 2008.
- A 5% salary increase for Police Lieutenants and Police Captains, effective October 1, 2009.
- A 5% salary increase for Police Lieutenants and Police Captains, effective October 1, 2010.
The 2008-2011 three-year contract also gave a 5% “Step Raise” (15.8% compounded) in each of the four years after an employee is promoted or appointed to a Police Officer position.
The fourth (5%) raise is not reflected in the 2009 Total Earnings. In addition, part of the third (5%) raise is not reflected in the 2009 Regular Earnings and Overtime Earnings. This third (5%) raise is not reflected in any vacation and sick leave hours cashed-out before October 1, 2009.
Therefore, all of the calendar year 2009 Police Officer, Sergeant, Lieutenant, and Captain compensation data is an under-representation of the compensation under the 2008-2011 three-year police union contracts.
The El Segundo, California sworn police employee total earnings statistics are given below for 64 full-time sworn police employees in calendar year 2009. The 2009 total earnings includes Regular Earnings, Special Compensation, Overtime, and Leave Payout (vacation and sick leave combined), but excludes CalPERS pension contributions, 401(a) deferred compensation contributions, and city-paid health insurance, life insurance, and any CalPERS pension income received while working during the same year.
Out of the 64 full-time sworn police officers in 2009:
The maximum, average, and median pay were:
$425,775; $139,121; and $131,868.
1 (2%) earned more than $400,000
($425,775);
2 (3%) earned more than $300,000
($327,076 and the above);
8 (13%) earned more than $200,000;
21 (33%) earned more than $150,000;
51 (80%) earned more than $100,000;
53 (83%) earned more than $90,000;
57 (89%) earned more than $80,000.
El Segundo Police Officers' Association (ESPOA) Exposed