CLOSER CONTROL URGED ON BONUSES FOR CITY WORKERS.

Byline: Dan Laidman Staff Writer

Los Angeles doles out $120 million a year to municipal employees for everything from uniform allowances to language skills - sometimes without proper justification or documentation, according to a report presented Monday.

The city pays bonuses in more than 300 categories to the workers in the three dozen agencies controlled by the City Council. Officials said roughly 36,000 employees qualify, but they could not immediately provide information on the number who actually get the money.

The money is paid for such things as shift differentials, speaking different languages when needed and extras based on working conditions. Public-safety workers get uniform allowances and bonuses for skills such as marksmanship.

While most bonuses examined by the City Controller's Office checked out, auditors said there were some exceptions and that city officials need to tighten controls to make sure the extra pay goes only to eligible employees.

``I think the bonuses are another example of a compensation system out of control,'' said Jon Coupal of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. ``Bonuses need to be carefully monitored to ensure that only those employees worthy of additional compensation get awarded the bonuses.''

Auditors looked at a sample of 50 payments from each of the four agencies that pay the most in bonuses: the Los Angeles Police Department, the city Fire Department and the municipal General Services and sanitation agencies.

Auditors found that three Fire Department employees received education bonuses without providing enough proof of having taken the necessary courses, while there was conflicting documentation of whether a Police Department worker qualified for a night-shift bonus.

Auditors also discovered a General Services employee who received a bonus for having a professional engineer certification although the position doesn't qualify.

While the number of flawed bonuses was small, the report pointed to a larger problem of agencies being unable to provide supporting documentation for payments.

``The problem I have is (the inability) to readily provide supporting documentation for all bonuses,'' said Councilman Dennis Zine, a member of the Audits and Governmental Efficiency Committee, which considered the report.

While the report said the Fire Department did not provide such records for all the bonuses under review, officials said the agency eventually turned over all the necessary paperwork.

``The audit pointed out several areas that the Fire Department needed to improve, and we are actually implementing most of those recommendations,'' said Battalion Chief David Yamahata, who handles employee relations for the department.

Fire administrators are working on a central repository for such information, officials said.

Recommendations for the other agencies included adding stricter verification procedures to ensure that workers' eligibility is up to date. The auditors also said city agencies need to work more closely with the Controller's Office and the chief administrative officer to ensure that bonuses are paid properly.

``This audit looks at the mechanics of paying bonuses and how we can ensure that they are paid accurately and on time,'' Controller Laura Chick said in a prepared statement. ``It will help all city departments to work with my office's payroll operations to ensure that this is done efficiently and effectively.''

The Audits and Governmental Efficiency Committee noted and filed the report, which will also go to the council's Personnel Committee.

Dan Laidman, [phone]

dan.laidman(at)dailynews.com