Budget committee recommends revised job descriptions, adds senior planner and management analyst to proposed staffing plan

The Clayton City Budget and Audit Committee on Jan. 13 recommended that the City Council approve a package of revised job descriptions, add three new job specifications and remove two existing positions, with one salary change requested for the proposed community development technician. The committee made the recommendation after a staff presentation and discussion of budget and operational impacts.

The recommendation covers multiple changes to the city’s personnel plan. Staff proposed renaming the administrative assistant position to administrative clerk and the recreation leader position to community services leader; adding job specifications for a community development technician, a management analyst and a senior planner; and removing the community development director and the associate planner from the current general-fund org chart. Regina, Assistant City Manager, told the committee the package would move the budget to 26.5 full-time equivalents if approved and that staff used comparator cities to align duties and salary ranges.

Committee members emphasized that the new community development technician is intended to replace contracted code-enforcement work currently purchased from a consultant (4 Leaf). Regina said bringing that work in-house would reduce contractor expense and that analysis shows a budget savings for the current fiscal year and an annualized increase in next year’s budget. Regina said staff estimates about $28,000 of savings in the current fiscal year and an approximate $76,000 annualized additional cost beginning in the next budget cycle (FY 2025–26) after accounting for eliminated consulting contracts and the package of proposed positions.

Members raised several operational and budgeting questions during discussion. One committee member recommended presenting a single comprehensive list of all positions, showing current status and FY‑26 annualized projections, to make the full fiscal impact clearer to the City Council. Vice Mayor Wojt recommended condensing job descriptions so they remain function-based rather than highly prescriptive; he said broader, less granular duties provide needed flexibility. Several members questioned the salary range proposed for the community development technician, noting the posted minimum/maximum and expressing concern that the top of the range appeared high for a role with a high-school diploma minimum. One member asked that the technician’s salary be pegged to the salary of the prior occupant of that role; another suggested staff budget to the high end of ranges to avoid midyear adjustments but hire at lower steps when appropriate.

Committee members also discussed how the new positions will interact: Regina said the community development technician will report to the assistant city manager but work closely with the senior planner on over-the-counter counter visits and code-enforcement field checks. The management analyst role was described as providing backup for accounting, the assistant city manager and city clerk functions and supporting special projects and payroll coverage.

Public comment was brief and limited to process recommendations; no formal objections were recorded. The committee’s formal action was to recommend the package to the City Council with the modification that staff adjust the proposed salary for the community development technician. Staff said it will present the revised package to the full City Council on Jan. 21 as part of the budget package.

The committee also urged staff to include contractor baseline figures when showing FY‑26 annualized effects so council members can see an apples-to-apples comparison of current consultant costs versus proposed in-house staffing.