Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Personnel Finance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Finance staffer says restructure would cut her pay; council tables budget change
Summary
A senior city accountant told the Faribault City Council a proposed finance-department restructuring would reduce her pay by an estimated $14,000 in 2026 while saving the city about $12,000; the council voted to table the related budget adjustment to an April work session.
Amy Stadler, a senior accountant in the City of Faribault Finance Department, told the council that a restructuring announced March 13 would significantly reduce her wages and leave her with limited choices among lower-paying technician positions. Stadler said she had been offered only an accounting technician AR/UB role rather than the accounts-payable/general-ledger position she believed matched her skills and experience and that she had been asked to consider a separation agreement. She said the restructuring would save the city just under $12,000 in 2026 while she would individually lose about $14,000 during the same period.
The council pulled consent agenda item 6K — a budget amendment tied to the restructuring — for discussion. Mayor Spooner and several councilmembers expressed discomfort with making staffing and job-description decisions without further committee review and asked for more information about the department-level impacts. Councilmember Ross moved and Rowan seconded to table item 6K and bring it back to the April 7 work session; the motion passed by voice vote.
The council’s action is procedural: tabling the budget adjustment delays formal approval while staff and councilmembers gather more detail. Stadler said she had trained multiple staff members and had served in finance since July 2021, including a promotion to senior accountant in May 2024, and urged the council to consider the uneven personal effect of the change. The council did not take further action on personnel assignments at the meeting.
The council will revisit the budget amendment and any related job-description changes at the April work session; no formal severance or reassignment was authorized during the meeting.
