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City staff pay‑structure review sparks council concern; ordinance introduced and sent to finance committee
Summary
City administration presented proposed changes to civilian job titles, pay ranges and step structures. Councilors expressed concern about communication, timing and employee impact and voted to send the draft salary ordinance to the Finance, Utilities and Rules Committee for further review.
Carmel administration introduced on Aug. 18 a proposed ordinance to revise civilian salary grades, job titling and step increases after a multi-month internal compensation study. The changes are intended to update job titles, widen pay ranges and replace the step-based progression system with broader salary bands; administration said the move is meant to improve market alignment and long-term pay flexibility.
What was proposed
CFO Zach Jackson and HR staff presented findings: many municipal job titles were inconsistent across departments; existing step ranges were narrow (about 20% from minimum to maximum); and roughly 55% of employees were already at the top of their current pay steps (projected to reach about 67% after the next scheduled step increase). The proposal would expand salary ranges (the presentation said ranges would be widened to about 40% from minimum to maximum), remove automatic step increases, create clearer rules for title reclassification, and adjust a small number of individual positions (five staff recommended to move up one grade, two staff recommended to move down a grade). Administration said all changes could be implemented without new appropriations for 2025 because departments have vacancy savings to absorb initial adjustments.
Council concerns
Several councilors voiced strong concerns about timing and communications. Councilor Ryan Locke and others said employees had received confusing emails and that many staff had not been given full explanations before public mention of title and grade changes. Councilors asked for clearer one-on-one HR outreach, details on which positions change, the budgetary consequences in later years and the policy that will replace the step plan (how managers will award pay moves). Councilors also expressed concern that job titles such as “laborer” are meaningful to employees and that title standardization can be perceived as diminishing some positions.
Next steps
Council voted to introduce the ordinance and referred the item to the Finance, Utilities and Rules Committee for detailed review. Administration said it would continue individual employee notifications and would provide committee members with the consultant’s underlying data, a list of proposed title changes, and the fiscal model showing multi-year impacts prior to final action.
Ending
Councilors said they want a careful, transparent implementation: better employee outreach, clear appeals or review processes and committee-level discussion about the proposed salary policy before a final council vote.
