City Council OKs more vacation days for Horst

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Rick Horst, in the early days of his role as Maricopa city manager. [Raquel Hendrickson]

City Manager Rick Horst will have another week of vacation annually to spend with family.

Earlier this month, City Council approved an amendment to Horst’s contract to allow him to accrue 192 hours, or 24 days, of vacation annually. Those days are in addition to holidays recognized by the city. He can carry forward up to 280 hours of vacation each calendar year.

The change brings Horst to the maximum amount of annual vacation accrual
allowed for city employees. He asked for more vacation days in lieu of additional salary.

In his previous contract, Horst had 150 hours of vacation. Like other city employees he is off on Fridays, though in reality if the phone rings, he picks up. And that goes for when he is “vacation,” too.

Horst, the former city manager in Rocklin, California, was hired to lead city management in June 2018. He was awarded an initial, three-year employment agreement that paid him $180,000 in the first year of the contract, but gave him an opportunity to increase his pay in subsequent years, according to his contract.

In 2021, the city paid him $206,511.