I hate to flagellate a deceased equine, but literally every single city or county I look at makes it more and more obvious that our IT Department is FAR larger and more expensive than it has any right to be. Just for kicks, I recently compared the entire COUNTY of Burnet to our little town of Lampasas. Here is what I found:
LAMPASAS
Population 7,800
Area 6.2 square miles
IT staff – 2
IT salary $125,881
IT benefits $55,081
Consulting expense $21,600
TOTAL $202,562
BURNET COUNTY
Population 50,000
Area 1021 square miles
IT staff – 2
IT salary $113,336
IT benefits $43,788
Consulting expense $0
TOTAL $157,124
As you can see, Lampasas spends 29% MORE on salary, benefits and paying for outside consultants.
I have included “consulting” in this comparison because it represents the money we hand to TSM Consulting ($1,800 per month, every month) to be on call to do Kristy’s job for her. That is just the MINIMUM. They actually pay them more when there is actual work to do….but I am being conservative in my comparison.
You may notice the benefits are wildly higher here in Lampasas – something I have railed against for a year now. Here is the breakdown on benefits:
Kristy and Monica: $19,288 for retirement and $25,905 for insurance
Burnet county: $12,520 for retirement and $21,528 for insurance
The annual retirement contribution is FIFTY-FOUR PERCENT HIGHER here in our little town than it is 15 miles down the street. Insurance is TWENTY PERCENT HIGHER.
Yet more proof that our IT Department is over-staffed, over-paid and under worked. I say “under worked” because Monica takes off over TWO MONTHS every year, when you add it all up (as I did).
But that STILL isn’t enough loafing around for our IT Princesses! Oh, no! They want MORE time off, as you can see below:
