Council requests budget backing for proposed pay-range adjustments and several new exempt positions

City human-resources staff presented an ordinance adjusting pay ranges and reported that several exempt positions were included in the submission; council members asked for clearer funding information before a final vote.

Lisonbee Adam, the HR presenter, explained the process: civil-service rules require review of job classifications and salary surveys, and those recommendations go to the budget office for funding review. "When they come to HR, if they rise to the level of having changes or being a new position and they come to HR for a salary survey, they are then presented to the budget office as we go through this," she said. "I don't have details as to how each of those positions were funded," she added.

Council member Cathcart pressed for more specificity, asking why a deputy director of code enforcement was listed without a former salary range and whether the positions were contained in the biennial budget. Adam said some roles are new exempt positions, that departments provided personnel budgets to cover positions in some cases, and that one police exempt slot became available after McNabb's retirement effective May 2. Adam said she would work with the budget office to provide a delineation of which positions are new and which were budgeted prior to a council vote.

The ordinance was presented as a consent-item briefing; council members requested the budget clarity and a delineation of which positions are newly created and which were previously budgeted before the item returns for final action.