MeckEd comes out in support of sales tax referendum

The proposal to boost the Mecklenburg County sales tax to fund teacher pay raises and a lot of other projects has been controversial since county commissioners put it on November's ballot. But it now finds itself with one influential supporter.

MeckEd, a nonprofit advocacy group, put out a formal statement this morning backing the measure. It would boost the sales tax by a quarter cent, with 80 percent of the money going toward raises for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools employees, 7.5 percent for raises at Central Piedmont Community College, 7.5 percent for the Arts & Science Council, and the balance for libraries.

Here's the full statement from MeckEd:

MeckEd is committed to fair and competitive compensation for teachers across North Carolina and in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. While we applaud this year’s statewide teacher salary increase, there is more work to do. Given the increase in teacher turnover rates and the drop in North Carolina students entering colleges of education, it is imperative to invest in teacher salaries in every way possible.

As a community, we must help CMS attract and retain the best educators to our classrooms. MeckEd’s 2014 Public Policy Agenda calls for raising the state’s average teacher salary to the national average, in order to better compete for top teaching talent.

MeckEd endorses the referendum to raise teacher salaries, and we encourage all Mecklenburg County residents to support this important investment in our educators on November 4th.

The Charlotte Chamber may be deciding today whether to support the referendum. The organization has already said it won't be mounting a campaign to push it ahead of the election. Charlotte City Council members have been a little hesitant about it, too.

And of course, there was a little battle in Raleigh over whether to let Mecklenburg vote on it in the first place.

City, county have more high-paid staff than CMS

If you want to make a six-figure salary working for local government,  your odds are better with the city of Charlotte or Mecklenburg County than with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.

According to the updated city payroll posted late last week,  Charlotte currently has 162 people earning $100,000 or more,  with six topping $200,000.  With a work force of 6,649,  that means 2.4 percent of employees have cracked the six-figure mark.

Mecklenburg County has 4,518 people on its current payroll,  with 93 hitting the $100,000 mark (three above $200,000).  That's about 2 percent at six figures.

The CMS payroll also shows 93 people making $100,000 or more in total compensation.  But since two principals hit that mark with bonuses,  the more accurate comparison might be 91 with six-figure salaries.  Either way,  it comes to about half a percent of the 18,665 employees.

I'm not trying to make a case that anyone deserves a raise or a cut.  I've just been looking at these numbers for several years,  driven partly by persistent questions about whether CMS spends too much on top administrators.  Sometimes those questions come from Mecklenburg County commissioners, who provide money for administrative salaries.

Superintendent Heath Morrison has the highest salary among the three local bodies, at $288,000 a year. But his inner circle quickly drops,  with Deputy Superintendent Ann Clark next at $190,000.

Jean Melvin,  medical director for MeckLINK,  is the highest-paid person in the county database at $260,000 a year,  followed by County Manager Harry Jones at just over $246,000.  Jones is supported by three general managers,  earning from $187,000 to $203,000.

Ron Carlee,  the new city manager,  is listed at $245,000,  with Deputy City Manager Ronald Kimble at $212,000.

On the opposite end of the pay scale,  it's also less lucrative to serve on the school board than the other governing bodies.  County commissioners' chair Pat Cotham is listed at $29,665 a year,  with other commissioners at $23,732.

The school board chair gets $16,386  (oddly,  it's Ericka Ellis-Stewart, the 2012 chair,  who's listed in that post now)  while other members get $12,605.

City council members aren't listed in the payroll,  but best I can tell from the city web site,  the mayor gets $22,000 with $14,800 in expense and auto allowances,  while council members get $17,000 in pay and $9,800 in allowances.