By Jim Cline and Kate Kremer
In the last issue we discussed whether – and to what extent — population influenced a jurisdiction’s relative wage ranking. In this article we discussed to what extent assessed valuation influences that ranking.
In this article we discuss wage as it relates to assessed valuation but for the detailed data, you’ll want to explore our Premium Website . If you’re not currently a Premium Website subscriber you can review our services Cline and Casillas Premium Information Services and contact Karla Rava at Cline and Casillas and she’ll explain how you can become one.
As we indicated previously, we have posted on our premium website detailed wage charts for the various public safety classifications (commissioned law enforcement, firefighter, corrections officer, dispatcher, and records clerks) which show state wage rankings and also the correlation of those wages to the factors we are discussing in this portion of our wage series — population, assessed valuation, and geographic location. In this article we identify and discuss how assessed valuation correlates with the wage rankings for commissioned law enforcement personnel. (A more detailed chart of this commission data, along with the data for the other bargaining units is posted on the premium website 2016 Demographic Rankings. A review of assessed valuation data does indicate a strong correlation between assessed valuation and wage rank. As we move down the list the wage rankings also increase.
But despite the strong apparent correlation the data does not explain all wage rankings. For example, Redmond has the 7th highest AV yet its wage rank is 37. This is even lower than its 25th rank from our last survey and it may be in part due to the fact that Redmond does not have a settled 2016 labor agreement. In a similar fashion as with population, Spokane and Vancouver rank in the top ten but have a wage rank 35th and 38th. Issaquah has the 8th highest AV and its wage rank is 30th. On the other end of the AV spectrum, Marysville is 22nd ranked for AV and has the 6th highest wage in the survey. And Bremerton is ranked 40th in assessed valuation with a wage that is10th highest. Black Diamond has a wage rank that far out performs its assessed valuation — 90th in assessed valuation and 10th in wages. So as we identified in the previous article on the series, there may be a lot of other variables at play affecting wage ranking and one should bear in mind that this wage ranking is based only on one piece of the total compensation covered by the CBA. Here is the top 10 list of city AV and wage rankings:
25 year BA Patrol Officer Wage
Washington Cities 2016
Putting the population and assessed valuation data together in the form of assessed valuation per capita is a strong indication of wage rank and it can help in answering some the anomalies in the other lists. For example, small Mercer Island ranks second in the State in wages. Its population rank is 36 and assessed violation is the 11th highest but its assessed valuation per capita is 3rd. Black Diamond is 109th in population and 90th in assessed valuation. However it’s AV per capita is 27th. This is at least a start in understanding why it has the 14th highest wage rank. Local economic factors can effect these numbers. Quincy, home of numerous big tech data centers, has a small population relative to its assessed valuation and so its AV per capita is out of line with its wage rank. Below is the list of the top 10 Washington Cities AV Per Capita List.
25 year BA Patrol Officer Wage
Washington Cities 2016
A review of County Deputy sheriff wages indicates a similar strong correlation between County assessed valuation and County Deputy sheriff wages. While they do not match up exactly, as with most of these lists the higher wages tend to be at the top of this AV list and almost all of the AV ranks over 30 are ranked at the bottom of the wage list. It also reveals that a number of counties also “under perform” or “over perform” on wages relative to their assessed valuation. Spokane County is ranked 18th for its wage ranking which is low given its 5th AV ranking but it is operating on a 2015 wage. San Juan County is 19th ranked for AV but shows that strong 4th rank for wages. Below is the list of the top 10 Washington counties ranked by Assessed Valuation.
25 year BA Sheriff Deputy Wage
Washington Counties 2016
As with the Police Officers wages, the Assessed Valuation per capita ranking list can offer some insight into the anomalies in the deputy sheriff wage/demographic numbers. Jefferson County is ranked 24th for assessed valuation but comes in at 7th for AV per capita. This helps explain its 14th wage rank. And most clearly we make sense of San Juan County with its 4th rank for wages in spite of much lower ranking for population and assessed valuation because it is ranked first for AV per capita. Below is the AV per capita table for county deputy sheriffs.
25 year BA Sheriff Deputy Wage
Washington Counties 2016
