Politics & Government

UPDATE: Beaumont PD Corporal's $279K Pay in 2009 Included Retirement

The unidentified corporal retired in 2009 after 31 years with the Beaumont Police Department, a city spokeswoman said.

A Beaumont police corporal who earned $279,449 in 2009 retired that year, and his earnings included more than $200,000 in unused accrual of vacation, holidays, sick days and comp time, a city spokeswoman said Monday.

"The police corporal you're referring to retired from the Beaumont Police Department in 2009 after 31 years of service with our City," Special Projects Manager Darci Mulvihill said in response to questions from Banning-Beaumont Patch.

"His final compensation for that year was $279,449.68," Mulvihill said. "This would have included all of his unused accruals . . . that were cashed out when he retired.

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"Since these accruals were cashed out, the amounts would not have been included when PERS calculated the employee's yearly retirement amount," Mulvihill said.

The corporal's earnings in 2009 summarized by Mulvihill consisted of:

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  • Regular pay: $58,959.56
  • Overtime: $2,632.44
  • On-call pay: $800.00
  • Uniform allowance: $800.00
  • One-time cash out of unused earned accruals at retirement: $216,257.68

Mulvihill itemized the corporal's unused earned accruals as follows:

  • Holiday time accrued: $23,864.22
  • Sick time accrued: $122,234.66
  • Vacation time accrued: $47,549.34
  • Comp time accrued: $22,609.46

The corporal's 2009 earnings came to light Friday when Banning-Beaumont Patch published a showing more than 60 city employees received annual pay greater than $100,000 in Banning and Beaumont in the years 2009 and 2010.

The Friday report was based on figures released by the State Controller's Office, and it showed the Beaumont police corporal was the highest-paid employee in both cities in 2009.

Controller John Chiang began publishing the information online in late 2010 in response to a corruption probe in the Los Angeles County city of Bell, where the city manager was at one point receiving about $1.5 million a year in total compensation.

The Controller ordered local governments to provide salary and other wage information for their employees to his office. The names of the employees are not published by the Controller.

The Controller's web site tallies compensation for public employees and elected officials. Individuals' earnings were based on "total wages subject to Medicare taxes" as reported on employees' W-2 forms.

A total of 32 Beaumont employees received more than $100,000 pay in 2009, according to the Controller.

In Beaumont in 2010, the police chief topped the list of 32 employees who earned more than $100,000, with total wages of $219,818.

Cal Fire employs firefighters in Banning and Beaumont, and their pay was not included on the city lists.

Pay for Beaumont City Manager Alan Kapanicas was not on the lists, as he was a contractor until , when the city council voted 4-1 to change his status to city employee.

Kapanicas has been working for Beaumont since 1993. The June agreement included a six-year contract that will initially pay Kapanicas a salary of $218,920, according to city staff.

Also not on the lists were earnings paid to Beaumont consultants with Urban Logic, who have contracted with the city for several years.

In Banning in 2009, the city manager received $194,846, leading a total of 33 who received more than $100,000 pay.

In 2010, the Banning city manager topped the list of 29 employees who earned more than $100,000, with total wages of $281,394.

Current Banning City Manager Andy Takata started in February 2010.

There was a slight decrease in the total number of Banning and Beaumont employees who received pay greater than $100,000 in 2009 and 2010 - from 65 to 61.

Banning's population was estimated at more than 28,000 for both years, and Beaumont's population was estimated at more than 32,000 for 2009 and more than 34,000 for 2010.


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