Opinion
No. CA 08 00110.
May 28, 2008.
I agree with the majority to the extent that it allows the City of Crowley (the City) to use the 1981 tax initiative funds to pay for across the board increases in salary, promotional increases in salary, and the two percent longevity increases in salary for the City's firefighters. However, I would reverse the trial court's judgment to the extent that it allows the City to use the funds generated from the tax initiative for overtime pay, holiday pay, workers' compensation insurance premiums, the City's retirement fund obligations, and the City's share of the cost of insurance or unemployment contributions.
The proposition clearly provides that the anticipated revenue was to be used for employees' salary increases. In fact, the City does not dispute this fact. The problem is that the City has expanded the language of the proposition to include the ancillary costs associated with such increases in salary. The trial court agreed with this expanded interpretation and the majority proposes to affirm the trial court judgment. I disagree that these ancillary costs fall within the definition of salary.
Black's Law Dictionary defines "salary" as follows:
An agreed compensation for services — esp. professional or semiprofessional services — usu. paid at regular intervals on a yearly basis, as distinguished from an hourly basis. ? Salaried positions are usu. exempt from the requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (on overtime and the like) but are subject to state regulations.
Black's Law Dictionary 1364 (8th ed. 2004).
Although overtime pay and holiday pay increase the firefighters' total compensation, they are not part of a firefighter's salary. In fact, the statutes governing overtime and holiday pay for firefighters draw a distinction between salary and compensation. Overtime compensation is governed by the Fair Labor Standards Act, which distinguishes it from salary as defined by Black's Law Dictionary. La.R.S. 33:1994. Additionally, overtime compensation is calculated based on a fireman's "average monthly salary." Id. Holiday pay is also calculated by reducing the "average monthly salary to an hourly scale." La.R.S. 33:1999. Further, in compensating firefighters for working on holidays, the municipalities have the option of granting additional time off instead of giving them the additional monetary compensation. La.R.S. 33:1999. Thus, I conclude that neither overtime pay nor holiday pay is an increase in the firefighters' salary within the meaning of the tax initiative.
Nor do I find that payments of workers' compensation insurance premiums, the City's retirement fund obligations, and the City's share of the cost of state unemployment contributions or insurance are increases in the firefighters' salary. Rather, these are contractual or statutory obligations with which the City must comply. This interpretation is supported by La.R.S. 23:1163(A), which prohibits employers from collecting money from an employee, either directly or indirectly, to pay workers' compensation insurance premiums and La.R.S. 23:1531(A), which prohibits employers from deducting contributions "in whole or in part, from the wages of individuals in the employer's employ." Funding these obligations with the money intended to increase the firefighters' salaries defeats the purpose of the tax initiative.
La.R.S. 23:1163(A) provides:
It shall be unlawful for any employer, or his agent or representative, to collect from any of his employees directly or indirectly either by way of deduction from the employee's wages, salary, compensation, or otherwise, any amount whatever, or to demand, request, or accept any amount from any employee, either for the purpose of paying the premium in whole or in part on any liability or compensation insurance of any kind whatever on behalf of any employee or to reimburse such employer in whole or in part for any premium on any insurance against any liability whatever to any employee or for the purpose of the employer carrying any such insurance for the employer's own account, or to demand or request of any employee to make any payment or contribution for any such purpose to any other person.
Louisiana Revised Statute 23:1531(A) provides:
Contributions shall accrue and become payable by each employer for each calendar year in which he is subject to this Chapter with respect to wages for employment. These contributions shall become due and be paid by each employer to the administrator for the fund in accordance with such regulations as the administrator may prescribe, and shall not be deducted, in whole or in part, from the wages of individuals in the employer's employ. (Emphasis added.)
Accordingly, I find that the proceeds from the 1981 tax initiative may not be used to fund overtime pay, holiday pay, workers' compensation insurance premiums, the City's retirement fund obligations, or the City's share of the costs for insurance or state unemployment contributions because they are not salary increases within the meaning of the tax initiative. I would affirm in part and reverse in part.