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Council reviews personnel additions and reclassifications as staff weigh budget priorities
Summary
City staff reported that departments submitted 98 position requests and the budget recommends adding about seven or eight positions plus several reclassifications; staff described reclassification as aligning pay grades with actual duties and said most reclassifications reflect employees already performing higher‑level duties.
City staff told the council on July 24 that departments submitted about 98 position requests during the budgeting process; staff recommended approving about seven or eight new positions and a number of reclassifications.
"98 positions were turned in... We're recommending about 7 or 8 positions and reclassify a few positions," the city manager said during the presentation. Human resources staff described reclassification as a mechanism to align pay with the scope of duties performed rather than adding a new headcount: "You're just taking that position, addressing the actual scope and responsibility of the position, and then moving it up a grade within the current scale," HR explained.
Examples noted in the presentation include an administrative reclassification in financial services, multiple reclassifications in parks and recreation tied to the ARC, reclasses within police and public utilities and a proposed assistant director reclassification in IT. Staff emphasized many reclassifications reflect current employees "working out of class." Council members repeatedly asked for the budget impact of promotions and reclassifications and requested a version of the personnel totals showing the effect if reclassifications were excluded.
Staff said reclassification costs are included in the personnel totals presented in the budget book and that department pages show specific benefit-line impacts (TMRS, insurance) tied to each change. The city manager and HR staff said reclassification is intended to aid retention and reduce turnover replacement costs.
