Pensions and Peacocks

An interesting question was asked at a recent city council meeting that is: What is Tracy known for? The question was asked by a woman new to Tracy. Prior to and even after her recent move to Tracy, the most she has heard about our city in the news is the city’s peacock problem (more on that here).

In the city’s defense, the peacock problem is a unique story. Peacocks are, according to SFGate, “…wreaking havoc in the Redbridge and George Kelley Elementary School areas…” The birds are even going as far as charging residents. So, yes, it’s an interesting albeit unexpected story for this Bay Area bedroom community.

What is Tracy known for? It's possible that it's not known for anything. The implication being that Tracy has an identity crisis. 

But, we digress, let’s get back to the question at hand. In our opinion, there is no immediate, natural answer to this question. As mentioned, Tracy is a bedroom community to the Bay Area. However, that is a general statement applied across the spectrum of small communities surrounding a major urban city.

According to the City, “Locals know the secret: as one of the friendliest little cities in California, Tracy is a place to kick off your shoes, hang your hat, sit back and relax. The opportunity to live the good life still exists here, and family, faith, education and the arts are still valued within the community.” It’s hard to be known for something if it’s a secret.

Perhaps Tracy should be known for its generous salaries and pensions for its city employees? Tracy pays its city workers well, really well. With the hiring of the new City Manager, we decided to take a look at some of the salaries being doled out by the city. Thanks to the good folks at Transparent California, we found salaries with benefits. See below -

The data only goes back to 2019 but it gets the point across that it pays to work in Tracy. According to the U.S. Census Bureau table below, Tracy managers are making up to three-times the average median income in San Joaquin County and ten times the average individual income.

How does the city afford such good salaries and benefits? The answer is by continuing to find creative ways to pay themselves. Take 2016’s Measure V money. Taxpayers passed Measure V with the understanding that the money will fund necessary amenities for the city. However, since it’s passing, the city has only funded two things with that money - a new parking lot and staff salaries.

The city is also benefiting from a new influx of cash from Amazon. They are using this money to hire new positions at the city and to pay the salaries and pensions of staff.

At the end of the day, Tracy taxpayers need to ask themselves if they are getting their monies worth from these high-salaried city staff assistant directors, directors, assistant managers, managers, etc!

One thing is for certain, it’s going to be a very Merry Christmas for these high-paid staff employees at the city!