Commission delays management pay adjustments pending class-and-comp study

The Hibbing Public Utilities Commission on April 22 voted to table a package of proposed management performance adjustments until the next actionable commission meeting, citing concerns about recent changes to job duties and an ongoing classification and compensation study.

Commissioner Stokes moved to pull item 5D from the consent agenda for discussion and later moved to table the proposed adjustments to the next action meeting. The motion to table carried after the commission voted in favor.

General Manager Andy Peterson told commissioners the city hired ABDO in December to complete a class-and-compensation analysis. "They're waiting on some guidance from HPU to kind of provide information on our compensation philosophy," Peterson said, and he described preliminary findings that, at a high level, utility positions sit between the 25th and 50th percentile of comparable wages. "They've completed the initial categorizations of our positions and from a point scale," he said.

Commissioner Stokes said she was concerned that job descriptions and responsibilities have changed since some positions were posted or adjusted, and that pay increases should reflect base salary and added duties. "My biggest concern is that job descriptions change after they're awarded jobs, and it seems to be happening quite often, and people get added job duties, and they get added personnel underneath them," Stokes said.

Peterson said the commission previously asked staff to bring forward annual performance-based adjustments now rather than wait for the full class-and-comp report. "I was kind of following that directive to get these adjustments out there," he said, while also noting the two tracks — the immediate performance adjustments and the longer class-and-comp study — could be reconciled later.

Commissioner Sainznick and other commissioners pressed for a timetable. Peterson said ABDO had compiled data and that staff expected an executive summary to be delivered soon; he recommended staff contact ABDO the next day to confirm a turnaround. Peterson added the utility is targeting completion of the broader study by the end of the year but acknowledged decisions about target pay percentiles (for example, 25th versus 70th percentile) would require commission guidance.

After discussion about whether to proceed with the adjustments now or wait for the consultant report, Commissioner Stokes moved to table the package to the next actionable commission meeting. The commission voted aye and the motion carried.

The tabling leaves the current management pay recommendations in abeyance until the commission receives the ABDO executive summary and any further information it requests. Peterson told the commission he would call ABDO the next day and report back on expected turnaround time for the executive summary.