Council approves new salary ranges for legislative aides, directs staff to evaluate chief of staff duties

The Riviera Beach City Council on April 16 adopted Resolution 40-25 to review and change the salary schedule for legislative assistants and the mayor's chief of staff and to amend the fiscal year 2025 budget to implement the changes.

Tenille DeCoste, director of human resources, said the proposal creates grade ranges and sets the legislative assistant salary range at roughly $50,005.86 to $75,008.79 (grade 116) and the chief-of-staff range at $53,005.38 to $80,003.07 (grade 118). "We are proposing a grade 116 for the legislative assistant salary range from $50,005.86 to $75,008.79 and grade 118 with the salary range of $53,005.38 to $80,003.07," DeCoste told the council. She said the ranges assume a 40-hour work week; the proposal also clarifies legislative aides cannot exceed 40 hours without preapproval per city policy.

City Manager Jonathan Evans explained implementation: existing legislative aides would be brought up to the new minimum if the resolution passed and the city will conduct a compensation and classification study to address any salary inequities later. "What’s being proposed is that we would establish a range for the legislative aides, and legislative aides would all be compensated equally across the board," Evans said, adding that hiring above the base would require justification and that the immediate increase equates to about a 5% raise for many.

Public comment raised concerns about evaluation and performance standards. JB Dixon, a Singer Island resident, asked how legislative aides are evaluated and urged postponement until evaluation criteria were clear. Council and staff discussed performance oversight; Evans said department directors may hire up to 5% above base without additional justification and anything above 5% requires a memorandum explaining experience and qualifications.

Councilman Bruce Guyton moved to amend the motion so that the chief of staff would receive the same pay as legislative assistants and to direct staff to evaluate the chief-of-staff and assistant-to-the-chair roles to determine whether higher salaries are warranted; the amendment also directed that each council office may recommend its legislative aide's placement up to the established process (with justification required for increases above 5%). The amended motion was seconded and approved by the council; the record notes the item passed with two dissenting votes from Chair Pro Tem Miller Anderson and Chairperson Shirley Lanier.

The council voted to implement the ranges immediately for current aides (bringing them to the new minimums) and to address any equity or slotting issues after a forthcoming compensation and classification study. Staff said they will include job description reviews and parity checks as part of the budget process.