Jerry Forte, chief operating officer for the city-owned Colorado Springs Utilities, has been awarded a total of $71,000 in bonuses.
The City Council, which acts as the utility’s governing board, evaluated his performance last month and in an 8-1 vote, the council concluded that in 2009 he had met or exceeded expectations on a variety of fronts, ranging from competitiveness to customer satisfaction.
Mayor Lionel Rivera cast the lone dissenting vote, arguing that one of the categories that Forte was evaluated upon – called cash on hand – was higher than normal because of an $18 million stimulus grant that the Air Force Academy had secured to build a solar power facility.
The Air Force subsequently turned the funds over to CSU because it’s going to build the facility, Rivera said. Without the Air Force money, the cash-on-hand would have been less, which in turn would have lowered Forte’s score in that category, he explained.
Forte’s base salary in 2010 in is $276,750, said CSU spokesman Dave Grossman. The bonuses include a one-time annual payment of $31, 411, as well as a long-term incentive award of $39,852 that will be rolled into Forte’s supplemental executive retirement account, Grossman said.
Forte’s performance was evaluated in more than a dozen categories. He received high marks for keeping the utility financially sound, for encouraging volunteerism among employees, as well as maintaining reliable utility services.
But he received a “meet expectations” rating for keeping rates competitive. Residential rates and commercial rates were roughly 3.5 percent above the regional average, while industrial rates were 11.42 percent below the regional average, the evaluation noted.
Forte, who oversees four separate utility services – electric, gas, water and waster – has an unusually complex job, said Grossman. “Most utility leaders need to be an expert in managing electric service. In Colorado Springs, the CEO needs not only electric expertise, but also needs to effectively run natural gas operations and deal with the complexities of providing water to a large city far from a major water source. Wastewater service provides a fourth level of knowledge and expertise that a Colorado Springs Utilities CEO must possess.”
How many city employees were laid off to pay for Mr. Fortes bonus?
And shut up City Council. There is no justifiable reason that corporate executives should be receiving these types of bonuses.
Why only $31,000 immediately? Shouldn’t it be $271,000 immediately. I mean, he did get the stormwater money rolling in.
When he gets the pipeline going, I guess his bonus will be $500,000.
The council really knows how to fleece the citizens.
Another rate increase must be in the immediate future.
Something, along with Annchovie, smells like @ss. You people never cease to amaze me. They are NOT bonuses. They are simply part of each employee’s pay that is paid out later–and that is ONLY if you actually perform well enough to earn it.
annchovie – please tell us about your vast experience related to either the pay structure of CSU or CEO’s as a whole. Getting a CEO for a billion dollar business for only $276K is cheap. Almost as cheap as you are dumb, but not quite.
Maybe we can hire a Chief Justice – In 2009, the yearly salary of the Chief Justice was set at $217,400. It would be a raise!
$71,000 in bonuses? I assume those bonuses came out of the hefty rate increases Mr. Forte and the city council approved to be sucked up by the rate payers. Once again the citizens are being stuck with increases while the CSU executives get hefty rewards. Can’t we do better than this?
Don’t be stupid.
A lot of City workers just lost their jobs. Services are being cut.
$70,000 would put trash cans back in the parks without half-naked women on them, and the leftover money could pay for water.
Apparently our City Council still has their heads up their @ss.
I dont hear you people whining that professional athletes make millions of dollars for doing nothing but playing a game? So shut your mouth, at least Mr Forte contributes something to society unlike most of you freeloaders
Word around the water cooler is he was hired as a hit man with incentives. Hit the consumer with higher rates while pacifying their pain with money saving, job eliminations. The plan has been progressing nicely since.
Ticket sales pay pro athletes salaries. Not taxes and utilities. I have a choice to pay one and not the other.
The Ridiculous Bonus’ that CEO’s get should be an Embarrassing to them !!! Wallowing in all of this money when there are so many people in America who…
CAN’T EVEN GET WORK…
CAN’T PAY THEIR BILLS…
CAN’T EVEN PUT FOOD ON THE TABLE…
CAN’T PAY TO KEEP THERE HOMES…
CEO’s Exagerated Bonus’ are Truely Disgusting !!!
Yet another reason to remove this idiot from the City Council; a bonus by far NOT deserved and most likely at the utility customer’s expense!
If any of these incumbents win next year, we have no one to blame but ourselves when the city implodes.
how is it Forte received a bonus when all incentives were taken away from all other CSU employees
The top 25 percent were still to be awarded with performance pay…at least that was the plan when I left several months ago.
I do not agree with performance pay/bonuses in government positions based on tax payers/rate payers money.
But if they are going to have it, leadership should be excluded from it and the program should be geared towards who keep the company (CSU in this situation) functioning smoothly – your everyday employee
Forte was rewarded for the efforts and results of others. NOT fair.
JUST INSANE!!
Maybe Mr. Forte would like to take a walk in our neighborhood after dark by himself and see how dark it is now that the street lights have been turned off. Maybe he should share his litle bonus with the common folks and donate it back to the adopt a street light program and have them turned back on. I would have a greater appreciation of the man if he did, but my hunch says no. What say, Jerry? Great chance for some much needed PR for CSU.
“But he received a “meet expectations” rating for keeping rates competitive. Residential rates and commercial rates were roughly 3.5 percent above the regional average, while industrial rates were 11.42 percent below the regional average, the evaluation noted”
So we do or we don’t have the least expensive utilities on the front range. I guess maybe commercial users do huh.
To Mr Gallager who wants to cut everyone elses pay why not vote against Forte’s bonus or at least vote to reduce it?
As if a quarter million dollars for sitting on your @ss isn’t enough…..freekin disgusting.
A bonus is a good incentive.
A $71,000 bonus is absurd. This Council clearly has no idea of the value of a dollar.