Council reviews eight midyear salary requests affecting utilities, HR and public works

Human Resources Director Shar Pachek briefed the council on eight midyear work requests that require salary‑ordinance amendments for civil‑city positions. The requests cover three departments — utilities, human resources and public works — and include division realignments, reclassifications, a part‑time conversion and a title change.

Pachek described request 2 as a reduction of a vacant customer relations representative from full‑time to part‑time, producing an estimated budget reduction of about $32,000. She said HR recommends reclassifying several GIS positions in utilities (requests 3 and 4) to higher grades after a market and internal alignment review. Request 5 would reclassify an HR talent coordinator from grade 5 to grade 7; Pachek said that request carries an estimated fiscal impact "just over $22,000" but is budget neutral because savings will be realized elsewhere in HR.

Council members pressed for clarity on who served on the work committee (Pachek said HR partnered with the office of the controller and the office of the mayor when necessary) and whether incumbent employees’ expanded duties set expectations for future hires. Utilities Director Catherine Zager explained that utilities positions are funded across water, wastewater and stormwater funds and that some costs can be offset across those funds. The council voted to send Ordinance 20-26-17 to a second reading on Aug. 5 so staff can provide additional detail, fiscal projections and corrected packet materials.