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Council tables city employee pay-step proposal for more study and budget review
Summary
Councilmember Swinson introduced a proposed six-step pay and step-progression system to make municipal pay scales more transparent and competitive; council debated implementation timing, budget impact (estimated additional $13,165–$29,285 depending on start date), rules for step advancement and hiring at higher steps, and ultimately tabled the proposal for further work.
Councilmember Swinson presented a draft pay-step program intended to create uniform pay ranges and objective advancement criteria across city job classes. The proposal called for six steps per job class, a 4.2% step increment, objective training or certification requirements for higher steps, and a plan to place current employees on the new scales at commensurate steps.
Swinson said the goal was both recruitment and retention: clear steps remove subjectivity from merit raises and make career progression transparent. The council and staff discussed several implementation issues: whether new hires could be placed at higher steps based on external experience, whether employees could advance multiple steps in a single year, how steps interact with existing exempt employment agreements, and how to fund the first-year cost. Finance staff estimated the immediate 2026 budget impact could be about $13,165 (if implemented mid-year) or higher depending on benefit elections and step placements; a longer-run estimate (plugging existing employees in at commensurate steps) ranged toward $29,286.
Council members expressed support for the concept but concern about funding and rule detail. After extended discussion the council voted to table the proposal for additional refinement and to consider it during the 2027 budget process.
