Civil Service Commission delays Minot pay-plan after employees raise concerns

The Minot Civil Service Commission voted on June 17 to delay adoption of a proposed citywide pay plan after dozens of city employees raised concerns about short notice, unclear implementation details and possible impacts on retirements and hiring.

Consultants from Heron Palmer — presenting as Chelsea and Hannah — reviewed a pay-plan rewrite intended to condense the city’s current 62-grade, 17-step structure into a smaller grade structure, align pay ranges to market benchmarks and establish clearer career tracks. The firm reported 453 employees in its analytics, said 81% of employees would fall within the proposed structure, and identified 69 employees below the new minimum and 14 above the proposed maximum. The consultants estimated an annualized fiscal impact of about $1.12 million (roughly 3.4% of compensation payroll) to implement the recommended alignment; bringing employees who fall below minima up to the minimum would cost about $150,000 in payroll.

The presentation covered methodology used to set ranges — multiple third-party salary surveys including the Economic Research Institute, job-matching rules (75% function match), and local labor-market comparisons — and explained proposed changes such as eliminating the probationary pay bump and allowing probation to range from six to 18 months. Kelly, a city staff member coordinating the project, told the commission the plan responds to a council directive to explore changes that would enable later performance-based pay options.

Employees who spoke at the public-comment period urged the commission to delay. "Employees saw that pay plan the day before, the same time you guys saw it," said Jenna Zolinsky, a compensation patroller in finance, who told commissioners the proposal was premature and recommended implementation in 2028 so staff could receive individualized information and time to understand changes. Other employees — from airport operations, mechanics, landfill and public works — described insufficient time to run personal pay projections, unclear performance expectations for step movement, and worries that frontline positions remain hard to recruit and retain.

City attorney Stephanie Stallheim advised the commission that a city ordinance requires the commission to take final action on a submitted pay plan within 60 days of receipt; commissioners asked staff to confirm the date the plan was received. Commissioners and staff then discussed interim options if the full plan were deferred: (a) applying only normal step increases for 2027, (b) adding a CPI (cost-of-living) adjustment for 2027, or (c) making targeted market corrections for positions demonstrably below market.

Commissioner Scott moved that the commission postpone consideration of the proposed pay plan to the 2028 budget year and recommend that, for the 2027 budget cycle, City staff propose normal step increases plus a CPI adjustment as an interim measure. The motion was seconded and approved by roll call: Scott, Kelsey and Miranda voted yes. The commission forwarded that recommendation to the City Council; council will review the recommendation during its budget process and determine final action.

Next steps: staff and HR will continue to refine job placements and address individual classification questions; employees were urged to contact HR or the civil service commissioners with specific concerns and to review their individual placement once staff provides individualized figures. The commission’s recommendation will be transmitted to City Council for budget consideration and any final adoption.