2005 STEWARDSHIP PROJECT

July 26, 2005

State government employment up 1,676
Ninth straight year employment has increased

State government Full Time Equivalent (FTE) employment increased to 106,754 in Fiscal Year (FY) 2005, up 1,676 over 2004 (this does not include local government employees such as teachers). This marks the ninth straight year FTEs have increased. Since 1996, FTEs have grown by 16.3 percent. Washington’s population grew only 12.4 percent during the same time period. Had FTE growth increased at the same rate of the state’s population, there would have been 3,647 fewer FTEs in FY 2005. At an average compensation of $59,546, this would translate into budget savings of $217.2 million for FY 2005 alone.

FTE Increases 1996-2005

(All budgeted operating and capital)

Year

Population

FTE

Ave. Salary

Ave. Total Comp

1996

5,567,764

91,758.4

$36,541

$45,954

1997

5,663,763

93,608.3

$36,950

$46,303

1998

5,750,033

95,028.5

$38,417

$47,973

1999

5,830,835

97,906.9

$38,858

$48,708

2000

5,894,143

99,929.2

$41,018

$50,961

2001

5,974,910

102,042.5

$42,778

$53,436

2002

6,041,710

103,818.3

$45,010

$55,311

2003

6,098,300

104,262.8

$45,907

$56,854

2004

6,167,800

105,077.7

$46,708

$57,912

2005

6,256,400

106,754.1

$47,379

$59,546

Increase

12.4 %

16.3 %

29.7 %

29.6 %

Source: Office of Financial Management (numbers may not add due to rounding)

State FTE growth also increased faster than the population when reviewing only employment funded by the state’s general fund. Had general fund FTEs grown at 12.4 percent as did the population as a whole rather than increasing 17.5 percent, 1,833 fewer FTEs would have been employed in FY 2005. At an average compensation of $58,758, savings of $107.7 million would have been realized in FY 2005 (based on the general fund state budget only).

The size of state government has grown not only in real numbers, but also when looking at the FTE per state citizen ratio. In FY 1996, there was one FTE for every 60.7 Washingtonians (based on the all funds budgets). As of 2005, that number increased to one FTE for every 58.6 citizens. Since 1996, cumulative budget savings of $1.3 billion could have been realized if the state had kept the same 60.7 citizens per FTE ratio each year and only grown employment at the same rate as population increase.

Rather than continue to grow the size of government, state officials should limit spending to the core functions of government and prioritize all expenditures. If one area of government “needs” employment to grow, that increase should be offset by a decrease in a lower priority area.

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