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Board recommends updated pay study to address employee pay compression
Summary
The Board of Zoning Appeals voted to recommend that the city council authorize an updated pay study to resolve pay compression across departments; staff were asked to obtain cost estimates from the prior consultant and return options to the committee.
At its meeting, the Board of Zoning Appeals voted to recommend that City Council authorize an updated pay study to address pay compression and uneven pay across departments. The committee asked staff to contact the prior consultant for cost estimates and options for a partial update or a full step implementation.
The motion, moved by a committee member and seconded by a staff member, instructed staff to present cost figures and implementation options at a future meeting. The motion passed by unanimous voice roll call; the committee chair declared it a unanimous recommendation.
Members said the city’s 2020 pay study set a structure of pay grades, step increases (about 2.5% per step) and provisions for cost-of-living and merit increases, but implementation stalled in 2021. A department director said the result has been pay compression: "We're not protecting our investment," the director said, arguing that the city trains employees who then leave for higher pay elsewhere. Committee members and staff described hiring and retention problems for truck drivers, laborers and other skilled positions.
Staff recommended that before any third-party work proceeds, the city review and update all job descriptions so the consultant can benchmark duties accurately rather than relying on titles alone. A committee member said the prior study had compared job duties across peer cities and assigned market-percentile targets; committee members suggested asking the same firm for an update to save time and cost.
The committee asked staff to provide: (1) cost estimates from the previous consultant for different levels of update (e.g., a limited update versus a full reimplementation to step 1), (2) a timeline for consultant availability to present to the committee, and (3) a compiled set of current job descriptions vetted with the employees who perform those duties. If the consultant cannot attend the next scheduled date, members agreed to delay the item and reconvene.
The meeting also approved minutes from prior meetings. The session concluded with scheduling discussion and adjournment.
