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Administration asks council to transfer $241,250 to cover retroactive pay tied to public-works reclassification
Summary
Commissioner Mike Collins presented a wage-and-classification study for public works that the union accepted; the administration requested application of $241,250 (previously appropriated) to cover retroactive pay back to July 1, 2024, and the council's budget analyst asked for a committee review before final action.
Commissioner of Public Services Mike Collins told the Beverly City Council the administration completed a wage-and-classification study (completed with consultant HRS) to modernize job descriptions and restructure the public-works pay scale. The study expanded the consultant's recommended 10-grade structure to 20 grades to add granularity and introduced more uniform step progressions.
Collins said the study placed employees on new grades and steps with an effective and retroactive date of July 1, 2024, and that the union voted unanimously to accept the proposed changes. "We ended up revamping all of the job descriptions," Collins said, explaining the grading, steps and the intention not to move anyone backward in pay. He said the administration had appropriated funds and was asking the council to transfer $241,250 (the appropriation referenced in the council's packet) to cover retroactive pay through the end of the fiscal year; Collins said the remainder of the study's cost will be covered by internal line-item adjustments within the Department of Public Services budget.
Jerry Perry, the council's budget analyst, said he had begun reviewing the materials but needed more time to analyze the collective-bargaining and accounting implications. Perry recommended referring the request to committee while staff complete their review and said the appropriation amount referenced in the packet is $241,250.
Councilors asked technical questions about how retroactive costs would be charged to FY25 and FY26 and whether enterprise funds (water and sewer) would absorb portions of ongoing costs; finance staff said some costs will be allocated to enterprise funds and the general-fund component is the item currently before the council. Several councilors praised the step toward career growth as a retention strategy but asked for more detailed line-item accounting and solicitor input on bargaining implications.
There was no final council vote recorded on the transfer in the provided transcript; council staff and members signaled a preference for committee review and additional financial detail before formal action.
