Grants Pass council directs staff to fix pay‑equity gaps, approves retroactive 3.02% COLA for affected nonbargaining positions

Councilors on Wednesday directed staff to fix immediate pay‑equity issues for a subset of nonbargaining employees and approved a retroactive cost‑of‑living adjustment of 3.02% for those positions, following a presentation from staff that recommended wider reclassifications and salary‑schedule changes.

Stephanie Nuttall, the staff presenter, described a task‑force recommendation to reclassify several positions (including GIS coordinator → GIS supervisor, water distribution supervisor, utility billing manager, IT director and chief financial officer), adopt a new salary schedule with market average placed at step 6, and apply a placement methodology that treats three years of substantially similar experience as one step. Nuttall said the recommendation would take effect July 1, 2025, and that the current proposal is budgeted at about $1.1 million overall, with roughly $286,000 from the general fund. She said the task force also recommended standardizing holiday compensation, adopting a longevity incentive and adjusting vacation accrual caps.

Why it matters: Councilors said they face a trade‑off between correcting pay‑equity problems required under Oregon pay‑equity law and preserving long‑term fiscal flexibility for the general fund. Several members pressed staff on alternatives, including phased implementation caps (10% or 15% per employee) and whether to apply the 3.02% CPI‑U adjustment to the salary schedule this year.

Council deliberations focused on three themes: whether the city manager should remain on the nonbargaining salary schedule given a different compensation package; how quickly to implement market placements so the grid does not fall behind market rates; and the budgetary impact of raising accrual caps and longevity pay. Councilor Indra (unnamed last name in transcript) said she would support fixing the immediate pay‑equity cases but expressed concern about sustainability if the entire package were adopted at once. Councilor Rob raised concerns that including the city manager—who has deferred compensation and other contract items—could amount to “double dipping,” a point staff said is the result of a prior council resolution that placed the manager on the salary schedule.

Motion and next steps: Councilor Seth moved to address immediate pay‑equity issues for the identified positions, apply a retroactive COLA equal to the October CPI‑U (3.02%), and continue further work on the broader compensation structure. The motion was seconded (second not specified in the public record) and passed on a roll‑call vote reported as 5 yes, 2 no. Staff said Wednesday’s action will be agendized for council action with appropriate redactions for personnel privacy; staff will provide summary costs and appropriate supporting information but will not disclose individualized confidential personnel data in open session.

Budget and implementation details: Nuttall told council the proposal as presented assumes a July 1, 2025 effective date and includes placement rules that prevent lowering an employee’s pay (an Oregon law requirement). The task force’s consultant recommended aligning the salary schedule to the market by adding the 2024 CPI‑U figure (3.02%) to the grid pre‑placement; the council discussed alternatives including delaying the COLA, phasing increases over two to three years using percentage caps, or changing the step/experience rubric to reduce immediate fiscal pressure. Nuttall said the recommendation was budgeted into FY25–26 and presented a five‑year projection that assumes a 3% annual CPI and that most positions are filled (a projection that staff cautioned is sensitive to vacancies and benefit cost inflation).

What remains unresolved: Council directed staff to prepare materials for a Wednesday council action, provide appropriate (non‑personnel) cost details for the positions to be fixed immediately, and continue deliberations on the broader schedule, vacation accrual caps and longevity incentives. No final changes to vacation accrual caps, holiday counts or the city‑manager compensation status were adopted beyond the immediate pay‑equity/COLA motion.

Ending: The council’s motion will be returned to the council agenda for formal action with staff‑prepared materials; staff emphasized any payroll adjustments will respect Oregon pay‑equity requirements and applicable personnel confidentiality rules.