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Committee debates department-head salary math; members seek consistent formula before final budget
Summary
Finance committee members asked for clarification of how department-head raises were calculated for 2026. Members said the adopted 2025 baseline (2024 + 1%) plus a proposed 4% increase should yield an 8% total change for most department heads; discrepancies prompted requests to reconfirm the salary ordinance and amendments.
The finance committee spent a portion of the working session clarifying how proposed salary adjustments for appointed department heads were calculated.
The committee chair summarized the intended approach: use the adopted 2025 baseline (the 2024 budget plus 1%) and add a 4% increase for department heads, which many members described as producing the equivalent of an 8% change over the 2025 adopted budget. The chair said one department (Parks) had already been corrected after a transposition error.
Members pointed out several apparent inconsistencies in computed percentages for specific department heads. "Some of these line items, for instance... she's 6% total. So that doesn't make sense because she would be 8%," the chair said, referring to an HR position that appeared to show a lower percent change than expected. Committee members asked administration staff to confirm which baseline was used and whether certain department heads had prior adjustments already included.
The committee asked that any corrections to the salary ordinance be prepared ahead of final action and requested that administration responses to council questions be copied to all committee members to ensure a consistent record. The chair said the group would reconvene with the same formula to reconcile discrepancies before the final finance meeting.
