Council adopts ordinance to reclassify municipal appraiser position

The Concord City Council adopted an ordinance reclassifying the municipal appraiser position, a move the city manager said is intended to strengthen the assessing department’s ability to recruit and retain qualified staff. The council voted to approve the ordinance during the public‑hearing action phase after hearing a brief presentation from the city manager and public comment.

City Manager (unnamed) told the council the proposal would change the current appraiser position from labor grade 16 to labor grade 18 and would be retroactive to Feb. 1. The manager said the reclassification would affect two appraiser positions and that the administration can manage the budgetary impact.

Public testimony at the hearing included Roy Schwiker, who identified himself and urged caution about compensation increases and the broader city budget, saying, “in the next five fiscal years if the city continues with the budgeting as planned the city ... tax rate will go up 70%,” and urging council to consider posting the job and seeing whether applicants respond before increasing pay.

Council discussion focused on the relationship between the proposed change and the ongoing classification-and-compensation study; Councilor Brown asked whether the reclassification would affect the larger study and the budget necessary to implement any broader study recommendations. The city manager said implementation could require separate negotiation with union groups and that the reclassification could reduce the amount needed if the council later acted on portions of the study.

The ordinance was approved by voice vote. The action moves the municipal appraiser position to labor grade 18 effective retroactively to Feb. 1 and directs staff to implement the pay change consistent with council action.

Next steps: Implementation requires payroll adjustments for the affected positions and any necessary bargaining or administrative steps to finalize pay changes.