Editorial: Salary cap hurts competitiveness

Imagine answering a help wanted ad for a city manager's position somewhere in Minnesota. After learning about the formidable challenges ahead -- tight budgets, demanding constituents and long hours -- the conversation might turn to pay.

"Sorry," you'd be told, "but we've got a cap that limits what we can offer. Have we mentioned the lakes and parks? How about the Vikings and the Guthrie? Our quality of life is priceless."

Although the 2005 Legislature made a move in the right direction, Minnesota continues to be hurt by the nation's only known statewide cap on government salaries. The maximum pay for a top local or state official is 110 percent of the $120,303 salary the governor earns. The general exception is school superintendents, although Bloomington as the state's largest city with a manager has been exempted and some other waivers have been granted. The cap had been at 95 percent of the governor's salary before the 2005 change.

There's no need to open the floodgates for $200,000-a-year city managers, but municipalities in Minnesota should have more flexibility to recruit and hire the best available talent for their top jobs. So too should state officials looking to fill key positions. The Legislature should eliminate the cap.

Blaine Mayor Tom Ryan is philosophical about his ongoing search for a city manager. Ryan knows he's unlikely to lure top national candidates to the city based on a maximum offer of $139,817 a year. He points out that someone in a similar job in Illinois might earn $170,000 or more.

Although a national search is underway, Ryan more realistically hopes that some strong in-state candidates will emerge. But are Blaine residents well served by an obsolete state law that restricts their search in this way? Absolutely not.

Those who worry that eliminating the cap would lead to excessive government spending on salaries are ignoring the built-in accountability. Municipalities must work within budgets, and if spending on salaries gets out of line voters can have their say at the polls.

Some municipalities already use legal but less-than-transparent schemes to get around the cap. One fairly common trick is to load up vacation time that officials can cash in when they leave their jobs. Another is to recast important positions as contract jobs, which makes us worry about accountability.

The challenge of recruiting and retaining highly skilled government officials will only grow as baby boomers retire and the talent pool shrinks. The salary cap is an artificial burden in a state that values innovative and effective government leadership.