Town can't afford to continue generosity

To the editor:

Does the town of Derry have too many employees? Has Derry had significant growth in the number of employees? Let's look at the data and then you decide.

After compiling some statistics relative to the 13 cities and towns with a population over 20,000, here is where Derry stands in terms of employee count:
Derry falls just above the middle of the pack in terms of the number of employees, yet has the fourth-largest population.

Derry is the fourth-lowest in terms of employees per thousand residents with 7.5. Only Bedford (5.6), Londonderry (7.1) and Hudson (7.4) are lower.

Derry is the fourth-highest in employee productivity rate with only Bedford, Londonderry and Portsmouth having a higher rate.

These statistics would seem to suggest that Derry does not have too many employees. Does this mean that Derry cannot get by with fewer? No, it just means that Derry is not out of line with respect to other towns with a population over 20,000.

To examine the growth in employees, let's look back over a period of three years, five years and 10 years.

Over a three-year period (FY2006 to FY2008), the employee count has increased by one from 250 to 251.

Over a five-year period (FY2003 to FY2008), the employee count has increased by eight from 243 to 251, taking into account the employees that came with the consolidation of the East Derry Fire Precinct.

Over a 10-year period (FY1998 to FY2008), the employee count has increased by 27 from 224 to 251, taking into account the employees that came with the consolidation of the EDFP.

There has been a 12 percent increase in employees over the last 10 years while the population has increased by almost 9 percent, though it has been fairly flat since FY2001. The majority of the increase has been in the public safety area (police and fire), presumably to bring staffing levels closer to the recommended standards/guidelines and bring down overtime costs. Are these increases necessary? That depends on the level of service you desire from your Police and Fire departments. For example, the Fire Department staffing levels have come up during the budget process the last few years as some believe the Fire Department can make do with less.

Derry has one of the highest costs per employee, even though Derry ranks high in productivity rate per employee. The high cost per employee may be due to the fact that Derry provides one of the best overall compensation packages (in my opinion) in the state, which may be why the union negotiations have reached an impasse -- because the town can no longer afford to be as generous as it has in the past.

Bruce Kling

Derry