Topline: The official story is that T.C. Broadnax willingly left his job as city manager of Dallas and later accepted the same position with the city of Austin.
And yet he still collected a $423,246 severance payment from Dallas on his way out - which he was only supposed to receive if he was forced out - according to payroll records obtained by OpenTheBooks through an open records request.
Combined with his new contract in Austin, OpenTheBooks’ auditors estimate that Broadnax will earn $1.2 million from taxpayers over just 18 months.
Key facts: Rumors had circulated since June 2022 of Broadnax potentially resigning as Dallas city manager because of disagreements with the city’s mayor and council members.
This February, Broadnax finally decided to leave. There was just one problem: his contract said he would only be paid severance if he was fired or city council pressured him to resign.
Broadnax reportedly held “secret” conversations with eight Dallas city council members and asked them to demand his resignation, according to anonymous sources interviewed by WFAA. That triggered his severance clause, worth one year of salary. Broadnax and his colleagues have not refuted the report.
For months, city officials refused to tell reporters whether Broadnax would collect his severance, even after Mayor Eric Johnson publicly said the payment should be nullified.
Records obtained by OpenTheBooks confirmed that Broadnax received his payout on June 3, a month after he’d already started work as Austin’s city manager.
Dallas also paid Broadnax $43,789 for unused vacation time, $3,225 for a “vaccine incentive” and more.
He’s earned $611,000 from Dallas since Jan. 1, making him the highest-paid Dallas employee in OpenTheBooks’ records dating back to 2017.
Search all federal, state and local government salaries and vendor spending with the AI search bot, Benjamin, at OpenTheBooks.com.
Background: Broadnax’s new contract with Austin is one of the most generous deals for a local administrator in all of America.
His base salary is $470,000, higher than any other Texas city manager based on 2023 data. It’s also higher than the salary in Phoenix, Arizona, the most populous area with a city manager.
He’ll also get a housing allowance, cell phone allowance, vacation time and more.
The contract is worth at least $607,000 this year. That’s likely an underestimate; it doesn’t include his potential “house hunting expenses” and the extra money Austin will pay Broadnax on his allowances to offset federal income tax.
Critical quote: “The Texas Legislature ought to take the step to protect taxpayers by forbidding these golden parachutes for city employees in any locality in the state,” Dallas Mayor Johnson said in his weekly newsletter. “It's time for the Dallas City Council to take a stand by definitively stating that there won’t be a golden parachute clause in the next city manager’s contract.”
Summary: Public servants should spend their working hours helping their constituents, not devising schemes to take even more taxpayer money.
The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com
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