Agencies awarding bonuses

BOISE – The directors of a half-dozen state agencies have decided to distribute about $167,000 out of their fiscal year 2011 budgets in the form of one-time bonuses to more than 100 staffers.

The perks range from $500 to $5,000, according to state records obtained Friday in a public records request by the Associated Press. Four top officials at the Department of Finance will receive the highest of the payouts as retention bonuses, the records show.

Other agencies approving bonuses are: the Legislative Services Office, the Appellate Public Defender’s office, the Industrial Commission, the Board of Pharmacy and the Idaho Commission for Libraries. The six agencies will issue bonuses Friday to a total of 102 employees, on the final paycheck of the fiscal year.

In the Legislative Services Office, 59 employees will get a pay bump, anywhere from $1,380 to $1,984 for top administrators. Director Jeff Youtz said the flexibility to hand out bonuses was created by eliminating positions and other savings in his personnel budget.

Youtz, whose staff writes bills and provides research for lawmakers, said he discussed with Republican House and Senate leaders months ago his intention to reward a staff that is now smaller but no less productive.

“We’ve gone three years without a statewide salary increase, and I just felt it was time to reward all my employees with a one-time salary increase,” Youtz said. “I wish it were more. We’re all being asked to do more with less. It’s a philosophical decision every agency director has to make.”

Earlier this year, a series of much smaller bonuses was approved for graduate assistants at the University of Idaho and 40 court reporters in the state legal system.

Overall, agencies handed out bonuses in the last half of fiscal 2011 to 185 employees totaling $227,000, according to records.

Separate documents also show 385 state employees have been awarded permanent salary hikes in the last six months, the majority identified as merit pay increases.

Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert and co-chairman of the Joint Finance Appropriations Committee, said he intends to study the bonuses and pay raises to better understand the decisions made by department heads.

But Cameron also said he knows how bonuses and pay raises given to some will irritate the bigger share of state workers – as well as the private sector employees statewide – who aren’t getting bigger paychecks and struggling to make ends meet.

“There may be legitimate reasons,” said Cameron. “But I certainly understand the disappointment and aggravation with some getting raises and some not. At the same time, agency directors have had to make some unusual changes in staffing and leave positions open and ask someone else to do more, and therefore feel it’s appropriate that someone get extra compensation.”