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Mayor asks council to treat market-adjustment number as guidance; HR warns of morale risks
Summary
The mayor asked the Personnel Committee to change compensation-plan language so the Carlson Dettman market-adjustment number would be a data point rather than a required figure; HR cautioned routine deviation could erode plan integrity and employee trust. The mayor and HR were directed to draft alternative language.
The mayor urged the Personnel Committee to revise city compensation-plan language so the annual market-adjustment number from Carlson Dettman would be used as input rather than a mandatory figure, saying flexibility would help the city preserve positions when revenues are constrained.
"I'm just asking the council to give the authority back to themselves instead of... that they may use that data set," the mayor said, arguing that rigidly following one external percentage can force cuts. He said he would aim for a 2.9% figure in his budget but wanted discretion to set a lower number if necessary to protect jobs.
HR director Jesse countered that routinely deviating from a data-driven policy risks damaging the integrity of the compensation structure and employee morale. Jesse said relying on consistent market adjustments helps hiring and retention and warned employees could perceive deviations as taking something away: "I do fear that it... it's going to appear to employees that we're only deviating when the outcome benefits the city."
Committee members debated trade-offs: some argued modest deviations preserve jobs in tight years; others warned repeated under-indexing requires later "catch-up" adjustments that can be more costly. The committee directed the mayor and HR to work on revised policy language that preserves council oversight, transparency and accountability.
Separately, the committee voted to set the annual increase for employees below the five-year rate at the greater of 2.5% or the mayor's budgeted increase for 2025, a change intended to prevent pay compression.
