The number of full-time Arkansas employees decreased slightly during the past fiscal year, the second decline in four years, state officials said.
The number of full-time workers dropped by 71 to 56,873 in the year ending June 30, according to a report compiled by state budget administrator Brandon Sharp.
The number of state employees at higher-education institutions increased by 55 to 25,097. At other state agencies, it dropped by 126 to 31,776.
State government's full-time workers also dipped by 71 in fiscal 2011, increasing by 528 in 2012 and 65 in 2013, the report said.
The state workforce climbed every other year since fiscal 1987, the first year for which reliable workforce figures are available.
While state government's number of full-time employees declined last fiscal year, they "haven't gone down much," said Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe, who is barred from seeking re-election under the state's term-limits amendment.
Some of the decline is the result of "natural attrition" among employees exiting near the end of his administration, he said. Another reason for the dip is "a desire to try to make things more lean in some areas, but that is offset by some growth" at the states' colleges and universities, he said.
The higher-education workforce has grown because student enrollment is rising, he added.
State Rep. Duncan Baird, co-chairman of the Legislature's Joint Budget Committee, said the slight dip in state government's roster of full-time employees in fiscal 2014 "reflects the trend of flat-to-lower growth in personnel that we've seen the last couple of years.
"From the legislative standpoint, these numbers reflect a general desire on the part of the Legislature to slow the growth of state government spending and lower the tax burden on Arkansas families and businesses," said Baird, a Lowell Republican.
Other states
Leslie Scott, executive director of the National Association of State Personnel Executives, said that in most states, there's been little change in the size of the state workforces. Some have fewer employees now than they did before the 2008-09 recession.
While many states' tax revenue is rising, their expenses are also climbing for programs like public schools and Medicaid, Scott said. Many states are being cautious in their spending decisions and are still coping with the effects of the recession, she said.
Salaries, benefits
While Arkansas' number of full-time employees slipped by 71 (0.12 percent) last fiscal year, the total cost of state employees' salaries and benefits increased by $191 million (5.15 percent) to $3.9 billion, according to another report compiled by Sharp.
Most state employees received 2 percent cost-of-living raises and were eligible for merit bonuses of up to 3 percent in fiscal 2014, said Sharp. In addition, the state's contribution for most employees' health insurance costs increased by $20 per month to $410 per month, he said.
The average annual salary of more than 27,000 state employees paid through the state's computerized accounting system declined from $39,746 on July 1, 2013, to $39,478 on July 1, according to the state Office of Personnel Management. That's partly because younger, less-experienced employees have been hired at lower salaries to replace veteran employees who have retired or left for other jobs.
Except for the state's higher-education institutions, the state Department of Highway and Transportation and the state lottery, most state agencies are on the computerized Arkansas Administrative Statewide Information System.
According to the state Department of Higher Education, the average salary of more than 26,000 full-time employees at the state's two- and four-year colleges was $54,361 based on information reported in the fall of 2013. That's the latest available figure, said department Director Shane Broadway.
In fiscal 2008, Beebe's first full fiscal year as governor, the number of full-time state employees increased by 1,524 to 54,537 and then increased by 1,256 in fiscal 2009 and by 629 in fiscal 2010 before dipping for the first time in at least 24 years.
The decrease in fiscal 2011 came after 2010 Republican gubernatorial nominee Jim Keet of Little Rock promised not to increase the number of state employees if elected and accused Beebe of letting the state payroll grow too much.
Beebe, who won in all 75 of the state's counties in the 2010 election, has maintained that the slowdown in state hiring in fiscal 2011 had "nothing to do with politics" and that "I'm pretty conservative when it comes to money."
During his unsuccessful bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, Mike Huckabee drew criticism for the growth in state employees while he was Arkansas governor.
Huckabee's staff was larger than Beebe's.
The number of full-time employees in the governor's office has declined from 55 in December 2006 when Huckabee was governor to 46 on June 30 of this year under Beebe, according to Sharp's report.
Throughout state government, the total number of full-time state employees increased by 3,643 (6.8 percent) from the month before Beebe took office -- December 2006 -- to 56,873 on June 30, the report said.
Most of that growth occurred at the state's two-year colleges and universities, which increased by 2,288 (10 percent) from December 2006 to 25,097 on June 30. Much of that growth occurred at one school: the full-time staff at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, increased by 1,214 (16.3 percent) to 8,633.
Higher education
The number of full-time employees at the state's four-year schools increased by 96 in fiscal 2014 to 21,903 and slipped by 41 to 3,194 at the state's two-year and technical colleges, according to Sharp's report.
Full-time employees increased by 107 to 8,633 at UAMS during the last fiscal year, while they increased by 106 to 3,458 at the University of Arkansas' Fayetteville campus.
Among other things, UAMS hired more doctors, which will raise more revenue from more patients, and had 34 resident doctors become faculty members so that they're now counted as full-time state employees, said UAMS spokesman Leslie Taylor.
UA-Fayetteville's increase in the number of full-time employees "is typical to our annual growth, particularly in light of our increasing enrollment, which now tops more than 26,000," said Laura Jacobs, a university spokesman.
The number of full-time employees declined by 61 to 1,451 at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in fiscal 2014, according to Sharp' report. A large number of employee retirements, coupled with a hiring freeze and restructuring, contributed to the drop, UALR spokesman Judy Williams said.
Other agencies
The Department of Correction's full-time employees dipped by 91 to 4,021 last fiscal year, while the Department of Community Correction's full-time ranks increased by 79 to 1,324.
The Department of Correction's number of full-time employees declined last fiscal year as a result of a hiring freeze imposed in May, said department spokesman Shea Wilson. Department officials are currently trying to fill vacancies.
The Department of Community Correction's full-time employee ranks increased last fiscal year for a few reasons, including adding 32 parole officers largely in Little Rock and a reduction in employee turnover, said department spokesman Dina Tyler.
The state Department of Human Services' number of full-time employees declined by 88 to 7,417 in fiscal 2014, Sharp's report said.
The state Department of Highway and Transportation's ranks increased by six to 3,559 as the state Department of Finance and Administration's declined by 36 to 2,565. The Health Department's ranks declined by 17 to 2,610.
Next governor
Republican gubernatorial nominee Asa Hutchinson, who has said he wants to provide at least $1 million a year to hire more parole officers to increase parolee supervision, said he'll order a temporary hiring freeze as governor "so I can get an appropriate handle on where our needs are and to make sure that if we are going to extend new hires that we have the right approval process for it.
"During this time period, we'll find some government agencies that are either overworked or understaffed or both, such as our parole office," Hutchinson said. "On the other hand, there might be other departments or agencies that are overstaffed and justify reductions."
Democratic gubernatorial nominee Mike Ross said he'll order a top-to-bottom review of each state agency to identify and then determine "what wasteful and unnecessary spending should be cut and what common sense adjustments we should make to our state's government."
He noted that he has proposed gradually increasing funds by $8.5 million a year over four years to hire more probation and parole officers, and providing $1.2 million more a year for the Arkansas State Police Crimes Against Children Division to crack down on the growing number of child abuse cases.
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