The 250 Utah Transit Authority employees who qualify for performance pay have agreed to forgo any bonuses this year due to tax revenue shortfalls, agency officials say.
The $1.2 million annual incentive pool is sorely needed to patch other parts of the agency's strained budget.
"It's been an ongoing discussion for quite some time," said UTA spokesman Gerry Carpenter, noting that half of the bonus pool was drained in December during final 2010 budget talks.
Last week -- amid a swirl of scrutiny over a new chief executive position, hefty paychecks at the top of the organization and service cuts for transit customers -- UTA executives chose to cut bonuses altogether this year.
"Certainly it is a disappointment," Carpenter said, "because it affects their total compensation."
Belt-tightening has occurred in other ways as well, Carpenter added. A hiring freeze is in place, no one received a raise this year, health premiums increased and the employer contribution to retirement programs decreased, he said.
At its monthly meeting Wednesday, UTA's Board of Trustees is expected to ratify this decision.
The mass-transit provider employs about 2,060 and -- so far -- has avoided any layoffs.
"We've been fortunate, to date, to be able to forestall that," Carpenter said.
Late last week, UTA filed suit against Local 382 of the Amalgamated Transit Union, which represents bus and train operators and maintenance workers, to enforce its new no-frills contract.
Talks between the parties broke down in December.
According to utahsright.com, UTA's top 100 employees peak with CEO John Inglish's salary of $339,179 -- bonus included -- and a programmer analyst bringing up the rear at $71,174. That means about 1,950 employees earn less than $71,174.
UTA's top three executives received bonuses last year totaling more than $100,000 -- nearly one tenth of the entire company bonus fund.
» John Inglish, acting CEO, $42,840 bonus
» Michael Allegra, acting general manager, $31,743 bonus
» Bruce Jones, general counsel, $30,225 bonus
