San Jose Mayor Says City Workers Getting Too Expensive

The San Jose Mercury News reports:

Diving into politically perilous waters, San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed on Friday said the city must explore ways to rein in swelling salary and benefit costs to eliminate its persistent deficits.

Reed's call for a study of the issue comes days after a Mercury News report found the city's employee compensation costs have risen 45 percent since 2000, more than twice the national average.

"The simple reality is that we have a structural budget deficit, where ongoing expenses exceed revenues," Reed said in his first major statement on the budget since he was elected mayor in November. "The deficit has grown due to lower revenues, inflation and wage and benefit cost increases."

The engine of growing government:public sector employees.