Regional pay a hodgepodge of differences

The report on geographic differentials was performed by the McDowell Group consultants and was paid for with a $400,000 appropriation by the Legislature last year.

"It has been over 10 years since a geographic differential study has been undertaken," said Administration Commissioner Annette Kreitzer. "The current situation is a hodgepodge of arbitration awards, ancient statute and different bargaining agreements."

Current differences in pay based on geography have been determined by statute, contract negotiations, and in some cases, by arbitrators deciding details for corrections officers and state troopers who work under binding arbitration, said Deputy Commissioner Kevin Brooks from his office in Juneau.

In some locations, four different rates above standard pay are given, depending on the job someone holds.

The report is an attempt to update and simplify.

"The attempt was to do a comprehensive study and try to get everyone on the same page," Brooks said.

Regions historically have been broken down by election district. Economic conditions can vary widely within them, Brooks said.

The consultants were asked to suggest more logical groupings.

They came up with 18 "blocks" and assigned differentials based on housing, food, transportation, clothing, medical and other costs.

Factors in the report vary by community. For example, heating in Fairbanks, with a colder winter, is weighted differently than in Southeast Alaska.

The consultants used a household consumptive survey, taking information from 2,547 households in 74 communities, and a retail price survey, reviewing 634 retail outlets in 58 communities, where they priced 200 goods and services if they were available.

As before, Anchorage is the base community. The consultants found two areas with a slightly lower cost of living: the Glennallen region and the Matanuska-Susitna region. Brooks said lower housing costs balanced out other, higher costs.

"Housing is one of the big drivers, as you can imagine," he said.

The most expensive areas were the Aleutians, Bethel/Dillingham, and the Arctic. Close behind were small southwestern communities and the "roadless Interior."

The consultants said communities outside Alaska's Railbelt and off the road system since 1985 had seen greater increases in living costs relative to Anchorage.

The report suggests that the 18 blocks could be grouped into five geographic cost differential pools.

The department had hoped to have the report in hand before the end of the legislative session April 19.

"The job took a little longer and analysis took some time," Brooks said.

The department, he said, hopes to meet with members of the House and Senate finance committees and labor unions about how the numbers could be applied.

Brooks said by far most state employees are in five places: Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, the Kenai Peninsula and the Mat-Su.