Title
Charter Officer Salary Data Discussion and Continuation of Charter Officer Pay and Salary Ranges (B)
Explanation
On January 20th, 2021 the City Commission held a special meeting that included an item related to Charter Officer’s evaluations and pay increases. The Commission took action on the evaluations and provided pay increases for the evaluation period ended September 30, 2020.
In addition to the annual evaluation and pay increases item, there was discussion regarding pay equity and whether the pay ranges were reflective of the market and the duties of each Charter Officer. The Commission asked staff to provide salary data for the Charter Officer positions to confirm the current pay structure or to consider modifications to the structure based on the data provided.
The Charter Officer’s pay structure was previously provided and is included as backup to the item for reference. The pay structure was developed by the City’s Total Rewards consultant Korn Ferry in 2019 and it utilized both custom and aggregate salary data to develop the structure. This is consistent with the methodology employed for the pay structures utilized throughout the organization. Salary data is provided for each Charter Officer, the data contains multiple source tabs for consideration. The NeoGov tab shows pay structure for other government agencies that provided it to NeoGov, The Economic Research Institute (ERI) provides aggregate data and also includes a size of the organization reference, the Department of Labor (DOL) also provides aggregate data but also provides that data by industry, and finally, there is the Korn Ferry (KF) salary structure for reference.
There were two Charter Officers that were difficult to find comparable positions within our peer City group. Those Charters, the Equal Opportunity/Equity and Inclusion (EO/EI) Director and the General Manager (GM) of Utilities have very few peers for different reasons. The EO/EI Director is a direct appointment of the City Commission, we did not find a comparable appointed position within the peer group or broader list of data points. The GM is also problematic finding many data points that include the breadth of services and appointment by the governing body. The data we found is provided, however, the Commission should consider using the aggregate data used to develop the Korn Ferry pay structure as attached. Both structures appear to provide the Commission with the ability to retain the current Charters and if necessary, recruit qualified individuals should the need arise in the future.
The salary data also supports the current structure for the City Manager, City Attorney and City Auditor.
The City Clerk data suggested the Commission may want to consider some modification of the pay structure as the peer average was $131,662 and a median of $121,691 as compared to the current structure that has a market midpoint of $110,850. The current pay grade that captures the salary data would be MAPS 19 and the minimum, midpoint and maximum are indicated in the table below:
Title: Grade: Min: Mid: Max:
City Clerk 19 $99,922 $127,400 $154,587
If the City Clerk was part of the City’s normal classification structure, this would be considered a reclassification as this is an upgrade in the pay structure. Reclassifications typically include a modification in pay commensurate with the reclassification.
The peer cities represent a small sample size and are a snapshot of largely current pay for the positions that our peers provided data. The peer cities may have significant differences in the in size of their general and all funds budget. The City Commission’s adopted compensation policy states that “the City utilizes the 50% percentile for the market median.” It is staff’s belief that the pay structures as modified in the attachment, are consistent with that policy benchmark. The modified structure includes the adjustment made to the City Clerk’s salary ranges indicated above.
Strategic Connection
Goal 5: “Best in Class” Neighbor Services
Fiscal Note
The Fiscal cost of this is dependent upon the City Commission’s action and direction.
Recommendation
The City Commission review the data and take action as appropriate