Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Personnel Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Newport budget adds positions, adjusts pay scales; affirmative‑action title change draws council concern
Summary
City administration proposed new and reclassified positions, salary scale adjustments intended to aid junior employees, and an affirmative‑action officer title change; councilors pressed for details and some raised legal and funding concerns.
City finance staff and administration presented personnel proposals the council would fund in the fiscal 2026 budget, including several new positions, nonunion pay‑scale adjustments and bargaining‑unit updates.
Jim Nolan, the city’s finance director, and other staff outlined four new general‑fund positions with combined salary and benefits of about $481,000: a deputy police chief (supervisory S‑12, about $174,000 combined), a code enforcement officer (NEA, about $116,000), an assistant building inspector (AFSCME, about $102,000) and a public services laborer (AFSCME, about $88,000). Separately, the utilities department would add a utility GIS and field specialist and a capital projects engineering manager (combined about $245,000), and the parking and maritime enterprise funds would add a superintendent of the parking authority and a deputy harbormaster.
On classification and pay scales, staff said they are shifting nonunion ranges to help junior employees catch up with inflation. Nolan summarized that salary and benefits represent roughly half of the proposed $122 million general‑fund budget, and the proposed nonunion adjustments prioritize increases to the S‑1 through S‑9 ranges while keeping S‑10 and above flatter to rebalance prior gains concentrated at senior levels.
Several councilors and department heads pressed for details. Police Chief Ryan Duffy explained the proposed superintendent of the parking authority would merge three part‑time supervisory functions and current police parking enforcement management into a single full‑time position, moving budget and enforcement responsibilities out of police overtime and into a new managerial post. Chief Duffy said Passport (a contracted vendor) continues follow‑up on unpaid out‑of‑state parking tickets. Councilors asked whether the superintendent hire would be net‑neutral once prior part‑time positions were removed; staff said they would provide a final net‑cost breakdown.
Administration also proposed renaming the city’s affirmative‑action officer to “talent management specialist.” The human‑resources and city‑manager presentations said the change reflects the position’s broader role in recruitment and to avoid a “contemporary stigma” in the labor market. Some councilors questioned whether the title change could create political or legal risk given federal scrutiny of affirmative‑action practices and asked whether the change would undercut council‑directed policy; staff said the change was intended to broaden scope and not to backtrack on affirmative‑action goals.
Union contract updates were summarized: the IAFF (fire) contract was recently ratified with pay steps of 3% (FY25), 4% (FY26) and 3.5% (FY27) and schedule changes; police (FOP) and several other contracts remain in negotiation with tentative agreements reported for police. Staff warned that if negotiated contracts exceed the budgeted contingencies, the city might need to use unassigned fund balance to cover costs.
Why it matters: personnel and collective‑bargaining costs are the largest recurring budget drivers, influence service delivery and affect long‑term fiscal planning. Councilors asked for clearer net‑costs, reporting lines and the amounts saved by eliminating part‑time posts when new full‑time positions are created.
