Pay Cut

Several executives at 1st Mariner Bancorp, including Chairman and CEO Edwin F. Hale Sr., took pay cuts of as much as 10 percent last year as the financial company suffered significant losses from bad loans. Hale, who started 1st Mariner in 1995, earned a base salary of $522,000 last year, compared with $580,000 the year before, according to a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company's chief operating officer and the executive vice president and chief financial officer also reported 10 percent pay reductions, while another executive vice president took a 3 percent pay cut. The pay reductions come as the company's banking arm, 1st Mariner Bank, has continued to suffer from soured real estate loans and is operating under an informal supervisory agreement with federal regulators.

Five months ago, officials at Home Team Sports maneuvered their way from certain extinction to grabbing the television rights for three valuable local sports properties -- by fending off a bid from Fox and Tele-Communications Inc.But in regaining the Orioles, Washington Bullets and Capitals last October at a more than 150 percent markup, did HTS burn the village in order to save the house?That's the question some are asking after reports that Orioles analyst Jim Palmer is auditioning for a post in the New York Yankees' broadcast booth since being asked to take a pay cut.Palmer denied published and broadcast reports that he has decided to join the Madison Square Garden Network for a package of 50 Yankees games, though he said that he would audition with MSG.Palmer said his principal reason for exploring his options was the request that he take a cut in pay for 1997, while doing the same number of games for HTS.HTS, owned by Westinghouse -- which also owns Channel 13 -- will pay a reported $250 million over 10 years for the Orioles, Bullets and Capitals.

Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer has an audition today with New York-based Madison Square Garden Network that could lead to his departure from the Orioles' television booth.Palmer, who has worked the past three seasons as an analyst with Home Team Sports, the Orioles' cable television carrier, said that his preference is to remain with HTS and the Orioles, but he is keeping his 1997 options open.One of those options includes the possibility of a 50-game package analyzing Yankees games on MSG, like HTS an all-sports regional cable channel.

Two days after raising the possibility of a salary deferment for employees, Baltimore's top school official said yesterday that he was not sure whether the school system could repay its workers for a 10-day pay cut he has proposed to help cover a budget deficit.School Superintendent Walter G. Amprey, who is planning to issue a memo to employees today explaining the need for the pay cuts, said there were legal and financial questions that needed to be resolved before the school system could defer any lost employee wages until the fiscal year that begins July 1."

On Thanksgiving weekend two years ago, an Indiana consulting firm express-mailed three copies of a much-anticipated salary survey to top officials of then-County Executive Robert R. Neall's departing administration.The report by David M. Griffith & Associates cost Anne Arundel $150,150 and was to be the basis of an overhaul of the county's personnel system. Specifically, it was supposed to reinforce the administration's push to lower payroll costs.Instead, the report virtually disappeared.

The shrinking job market for middle managers has forced many downsized workers to consider taking a pay cut. People who used to make $45,000 a year are applying for jobs in the $30,000 range. Getting an offer seems like a mixed blessing -- you wonder if you'd be better off turning it down.As if the emotional roller coaster weren't bad enough, the prospect of a pay cut poses tough financial and practical questions:How long should I hold out for the salary I want?If you have a buyout package to fall back on, you might be tempted to wait until your severance pay runs out. In fact, it's much better to start bringing in some money as soon as possible.

It was a tough year for Bell Atlantic Corp. Chairman Raymond W. Smith in 1994. First his $30 billion merger deal with Telecommunications Inc. falls apart. Then he takes an 18 percent pay cut, to a lousy $2 million.At least he can console himself with the 948,180 stock options he received.The Philadelphia-based telephone company's recently filed proxy statement shows that Mr. Smith received a modest 4.1 percent raise in May -- an amount that was in line with the company's budgeted 4 percent merit pay increase pool.

Start writing Ben McDonald's Orioles epitaph.Career record: 58-53.Departed: Dec. 20, 1995.Reason: He made too much money.McDonald is gone, gone as of tomorrow, gone with his best years ahead of him, gone because he earned $4.5 million last season.The Orioles thought they were acquiring a future 20-game winner when they selected McDonald with the first pick of the 1988 draft.But barring a dramatic turn of events, they will refuse to offer him a contract for 1996 tomorrow, in effect releasing the 28-year-old right-hander.

After a long-awaited breakthrough in crucial negotiations, the leaders of USAir's pilot union are due to vote today on a cost-cutting package that could save the airline nearly $190 million a year for the next five years.The agreement provides for a 20 percent pay cut for pilots, or $150 million a year over the next five years, plus $40 million in other concessions, according to David W. McLarney, a spokesman for the pilot union.The deadlock in the negotiations was broken after the pilot union agreed to let the company furlough up to 300 pilots over two years, the New York Times reported yesterday.

If you've been a bit preoccupied with the saga of Nancy and Tonya in Lillehammer and Michael Jordan in Sarasota, you probably overlooked the tale of Duane and Chris in the NFL.The fate of Duane Bickett and Chris Burkett is a sign of the changing times in the NFL. They're two of the first victims of the NFL's brave new world of the salary cap.A year ago, Bickett was the Indianapolis Colts' franchise player. He was scheduled to make $2.1 million this year. But he was one of several players who were waived by the Colts a week ago to get the team under the salary cap.Bickett may be brought back by the Colts or he can sign with another team.

Several executives at 1st Mariner Bancorp, including Chairman and CEO Edwin F. Hale Sr., took pay cuts of as much as 10 percent last year as the financial company suffered significant losses from bad loans. Hale, who started 1st Mariner in 1995, earned a base salary of $522,000 last year, compared with $580,000 the year before, according to a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company's chief operating officer and the executive vice president and chief financial officer also reported 10 percent pay reductions, while another executive vice president took a 3 percent pay cut. The pay reductions come as the company's banking arm, 1st Mariner Bank, has continued to suffer from soured real estate loans and is operating under an informal supervisory agreement with federal regulators.

Legislative leaders, saddled with a new budget hole of $516 million and a deadline for balancing the budget, said yesterday that they might resort to additional furloughs for state workers and slashing aid to local governments that have largely been spared in previous rounds of spending cuts. Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller and House Speaker Michael E. Busch laid out some budgetary options yesterday as the state's revenue forecasters officially reported that they now anticipate more than $1.1 billion less in tax revenue during the next 16 months.

Ravens cornerback Samari Rolle sits at his home in Florida and waits to be cut. The signs are there. The Ravens recently asked him to take another pay cut. The team just signed cornerback Domonique Foxworth, and some key defensive veterans from a year ago are no longer on the roster. Rolle, 32, is next, right? "Honestly, I don't want to play in Baltimore anymore because I feel I'm not wanted," said Rolle, who has started for the Ravens the past four seasons. "During the past two years, the Ravens have wanted to replace me, and the only man in the building that supported me was Rex [Ryan, the former defensive coordinator]

Mickelson pulls off late rally at Riviera golf On the verge of blowing the biggest lead of his career, Phil Mickelson turned his fortunes around in the final hour at Riviera with back-to-back birdies that carried him to a one-shot victory yesterday in the Northern Trust Open in Los Angeles. Mickelson went from a four-shot lead at the start of the final round to a two-shot deficit with three holes to play. But he hit a 9-iron to 5 feet for birdie on the 16th, holed a 6-foot birdie on the 17th and saved par with a 6-foot putt on the final hole.

Samari Rolle wants out. Because of his age, it was hard on his body to work through coach John Harbaugh's long practices, especially late in the season. The Ravens will probably ask Rolle to take a pay cut, and he will probably ask them for his release. ( For more, go to baltimoresun.com/ravensinsider)

Kicking Off -- Eagles -- The only contract Terrell Owens deserves next year is one so heavily laden with incentives that he'll be taking a pay cut to play.

HOUSTON - Continental Airlines Inc.'s pilots, dispatchers and mechanics have voted to accept pay and benefit cuts, contributing to the company's efforts to reduce annual costs by $500 million. Continental's Air Line Pilots Association, representing about 4,200 employees, said in an e-mail yesterday that its members had voted 58 percent in favor of $213 million in concessions. The new contract will reduce the crews' wages by 8.9 percent starting April 1, followed by 2 percent increases in 2007 and 2008, a union spokesman said.

ATLANTA -- Delta Air Lines is close to completing two deals that would provide up to $1 billion in financing, just as it begins phasing in $1 billion in pilot concessions, another key part of its rescue package. Analysts say the financing deals with General Electric Co. and American Express Co., which could be sealed today, are the final pieces in Delta's efforts to avoid a possible bankruptcy filing. Coupled with a recent pilot contract deal cutting $1 billion in annual costs and strategic changes planned this winter, analysts say, the cash infusions will give Delta several months to start showing progress.

After hours of brainstorming and bickering, city and state leaders could not agree yesterday on a plan that would clear the way for the beleaguered Baltimore school system to receive millions of dollars in state assistance. State lawmakers began work on an arrangement that could place financial decisions in the hands of a trustee appointed by the governor, but Mayor Martin O'Malley called that proposal too extreme and pushed for a more moderate alternative. A group working on the problem is scheduled to meet today.

Thousands of angry Baltimore schoolteachers and aides voted overwhelmingly to reject a 3.5 percent cut in salaries yesterday - a decision that could trigger even deeper pay cuts across the city school system or possible mass layoffs to ease a financial crisis that has been simmering for months. Nearly three-quarters of the more than 5,200 Baltimore Teachers Union members who cast ballots at the Baltimore Convention Center voted against a proposal that would have helped the system meet its budget goals this school year and still pay down part of a crushing $58 million cumulative deficit.