Columbia Association employees received more than $400,000 in bonuses last year, an amount some say is unjustified.
“We were appalled,” said Alex Hekimian, president of the Alliance for a Better Columbia, a residents? advocacy group.
In 2006, 69 employees were given $400,817 in bonuses, according to a letter from Association President Maggie Brown to Hekimian, who requested the information.
In 2005, 62 employees received $339,651.
The bonus amounts are based on specific goals for each position and scores on a performance review, Brown states in the letter. The maximum amount is 10 percent of the employee?s pay.
The bonuses are included in the operating budget. Employees such as a general manager at a sports facility are eligible, CA spokeswoman Karen Hawkins said.
The nonprofit homeowners association is in between a corporation and a government, since half of its revenue comes from activity and facilities fees while the other half comes from collections of a percent of the assessed property value, Hawkins said.
Critics, including Hekimian, have equated the assessment to a tax that makes the association accountable to residents, similar to a local government. In the case of Howard County government, $618,141 was divided among 1,224 employees in fiscal 2006, county spokeswoman Kathy Sloan-Beard said.
Not all of the county?s 2,500 full-time employees participate in the performance program, which is used to determine the government?s bonuses, she said.
?GAME? BROUGHT TO LIGHT
The issue of annual bonuses came to light as the association?s planning and strategy committee heard public comment last week on changes to the fiscal 2008 operating and capital budget.
Hekimian, who has called for more fiscal responsibility, said the association underestimates its income in the budget, giving it a surplus, part of which is being used for bonuses.
“It?s a game that is being played, and it?s being played at the expense of the residents of Columbia,” he said.
In fiscal 2007, the association had a surplus in the operating budget of almost $3 million, according to budget documents. In recent years, this number has ranged from $2.6 million to $5.7 million.
SURPLUS KEEPS GROUP VIABLE
However, the surplus isn?t cash to spend, CA Financial Analyst Susan Krabbe said. The CA aims to remain financially viable, she said, and leaving room in the budget is “prudent.” Added Board Vice Chairman Phil Marcus: “Estimating revenues is a game that is not much different than handicapping ponies. They bounce around; that?s the nature of numbers.”
Further, since bonuses are budgeted in the operating budget, Brown “isn?t entitled to find money and spend it on bonuses,” he said.
