Loading...
City Council Minutes 12-29-2005 SpecialSpecial Council Meeting Minutes: 12/29/05 MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING — MONTICELLO CITY COUNCIL Thursday, December 29, 2005 — 6 p.m. Members Present: Clint Herbst, Wayne Mayer, Tom Perrault, Glen Posusta and Brian Stumpf. Members Absent: None. 1. Call to order: Mayor Herbst called the meeting to order at 6:05 p.m. and declared a quorum present. 2. Consideration of salary schedule adjustments based on comparative data and cost of living adjustments for 2006. Brian Stumpf commented that based on the information received it was pretty clear what had to be done and the only question was the way to accomplish it; that is should the adjustment be done in increments or in one shot. Clint Herbst noted that a flag was raised about city wages when the city was hiring for the engineer position. With a number of employees within a few years of retirement, the salary issue could have a big impact on the city. The City needs to be competitive with their salary schedule in order to retain staff and to attract candidates for open positions. Clint Herbst explained why the cities in the comparison analysis were selected noting that they were communities that were similar to Monticello in that they were experiencing rapid growth. Wayne Mayer asked about the step levels used in the comparison. It was pointed out that most of the cities reach their top step in a shorter period of time than it takes under Monticello's step system. Wayne Mayer stated he looked at the League of Minnesota Cities information and questioned whether the figures weren't skewed. He noted that Monticello has less population than the communities used in the comparison but if Monticello was compared to a similar size community such as Alexandria, the difference in salary was not as great. He felt the cities were selected arbitrarily so that there would be a wage increase. City Administrator, Rick Wolfsteller pointed out that staff did not select the cities. The cities were selected by the firm who did the salary study for Big Lake. He added that using just one factor, such as population was not an accurate gauge. Other factors such as growth and proximity to a metropolitan area should be considered as well. Wayne Mayer stated the only criteria the City has to go on to be in compliance as far as pay scale is population. Rick Wolfsteller explained that being in compliance with pay equity requirements is not a comparison with other cities but that within the organization there is equal pay for comparable positions. The reason the comparison is done with other cities is to determine if the city is competitive with other communities as far as offering a wage package to retain staff and attract candidates for open positions. Special Council Meeting Minutes: 12/29/05 Brian Stumpf stated that the salary survey was asked for in January so that the City could see where they were in comparison to other cities. They now have that information so he didn't think there should be any question in what the City needs to do. Glen Posusta asked if the step increase would affect union employees as well as non-union employees and was informed it would. Wayne Mayer stated that he didn't believe it would take a 12% increase to retain employees. Rick Wolfsteller commented that when the engineer position was filled the City had to go outside of their pay scale to fill that position. Clint Herbst stated by looking at these increases, the City is trying to get in the position where they can go out and get the good people they need for positions that are open. Wayne Mayer reiterated that he did not feel the communities used in the study were comparable to Monticello and felt that Buffalo and Otsego would be more suitable comparisons. The present step and points system the city uses was discussed. Rick Wolfsteller explained that points were given based on a number of factors such as accountability, responsibility, supervision, etc. Generally entry level positions were at the low end of the point system and the chief executive officer would be at the top. Both Wayne Mayer and Glen Posusta stated that in the real work world it didn't work that way. Rick Wolfsteller pointed out that if the pay scale steps stay where they are, the City will be out of compliance with pay equity. Failure to comply with pay equity requirements could result in penalties or loss of state aid for the city. Rick Wolfsteller noted that engineer position was not the only position the City encountered this problem with. The recently hired building inspector was a similar situation. The City could not get the person they wanted by offering step one wages. The City had to go to a step 3 or 4. It was noted that the job descriptions list the requirements necessary to meet the step 1 starting wage but if it takes a step 3 or higher to get a person to accept the position, it shows you are not in line with the market. BRIAN STUMPF MOVED TO APPROVE AN ADJUSTMENT TO THE OVERALL SALARY SCHEDULE WITH AN 8% ADJUSTMENT TO BRING THE CITY IN LINE WITH THE AVERAGES FROM THE SURVEY RESULTS WITH THIS ADJUSTMENT TO TAKE EFFECT JANUARY 1, 2006. CLINT HERBST SECONDED THE MOTION. In seconding the motion, Clint Herbst commented that 8% may not be the proper amount. He stated he didn't feel the City had to be the highest or the lowest as far as their wage scale but he did feel they should meet the average. He felt the City has to be ready for the next 3-5 years when it is anticipated they will be replacing a number of key positions because of retirement. Glen Posusta said he didn't have a problem with being average in their wage scale if the City was average in their taxes. He felt the City should go with a lower percent on the step increase and the cost of living increase. Brian Stumpf stated that if adjustments had been done incrementally over a period of time it might have been easier than doing it in one big bite. Wayne Mayer stated that there were a number of employees who were deserving of a good increase. He added that were other benefits to working locally besides wage. Overall he felt the city staff was paid well. There was some discussion on the pay ranges for various 2 Special Council Meeting Minutes: 12/29/05 positions. Wayne Mayer stated that it is not the city's responsibility to keep all their employees and it is not realistic to think it can be done. He stated he was dumbfounded that there wasn't a system in place where pay increases were given based on performance reviews. He did not believe in across the board increases as it rewards the underachievers. It was noted that it takes approximately 7.5 years to reach the top step in the wage scale. After that the only increases those employees receive are cost of living increases. Rick Wolfsteller stated the problem with a system based on performance reviews is that it creates problems as far as pay equity compliance. Clint Herbst stated that because of regulations placed on government entities, they cannot operate in the same manner as the private sector. UPON VOTE BEING TAKEN, THE MOTION FAILED WITH WAYNE MAYER, TOM PERRAULT AND GLEN POSUSTA VOTING IN OPPOSITION. Glen Posusta suggested an increase of 6% for the step increase and either no increase or a minimal increase of I% for the cost of living increase. Glen Posusta asked if the step increase would cover all employees and Rick Wolfsteller indicated it would. Union employees would be entitled to same adjustment but it would take effect on their contract date which is April 1. Wayne Mayer felt the salary survey should be done over. Clint Herbst responded that he had discussed the salary survey with Susan Hanson and she had recommended they contact Big Lake for the results of their survey. Clint Herbst added that even though the job titles were the same for the positions in the various communities surveyed it didn't mean the duties were the same. The only way to ensure that you were comparing apples to apples was to review the job descriptions from each community. However, since the positions covered were positions common to all communities it was felt that there was a basic core of responsibilities that the comparison could be made on. Wayne Mayer stated that people took jobs and left jobs for reasons other than pay. He said he has not heard a good argument for the 8% adjustment. He asked what the percent increase would be if Monticello followed Big Lake in their adjustment amount. In addition, Wayne Mayer questioned how often the steps and points system was reviewed. Rick Wolfsteller responded that pay equity reporting is done on a three year cycle. The City's last pay equity report was two years ago. Brian Stumpf stated that the reason was the salary survey was to bring the City in line with what other communities were doing. Since it appears adjustments need to be done, the City should proceed with doing them regardless of whether they do it incrementally or at one time. Wayne Mayer did not feel that the result of the survey was to guarantee an increase of any kind. Rick Wolfsteller indicated that if Monticello was to make the average it would require an increase of 7.25%. Wayne Mayer asked if there were any alternatives to decision #1 dealing with an overall adjustment to the salary schedule such as changing number of steps, etc. There was discussion on what the impact would be by adding steps or deleting steps to the salary schedule. The Council discussed what the cost of the adjustments would be and where the funds would come from. Rick Wolfsteller stated that a 4% increase was in the budget for 2006 and the balance of funds would come from general fund reserves. 3 Special Council Meeting Minutes: 12/29/05 GLEN POSUSTA MOVED ON DECISION #1 TO INCREASE THE OVERALL SALARY SCHEDULE BY 3% EFFECTIVE APRIL 1, 2006 AND ON DECISION #2 TO INCREASE THE COST OF LIVING ADJUSTMENT BY 3.5% EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2006. John Simola asked why they would delay the adjustment for non-union personnel until April 1, 2006. This was discussed. GLEN POSUSTA AMENDED HIS MOTION ON DECISION #1 TO CHANGE THE SALARY SCHEDULE ADJUSTMENT FOR NON-UNION PERSONNEL TO JANUARY 1, 2006. CLINT HERBST SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED WITH WAYNE MAYER VOTING IN OPPOSITION. Wayne Mayer noted his opposition to the motion was that he did not agree with giving across the board increases and he also questioned the validity of the comparison with other communities. Added Item: Clint Herbst brought up for Council discussion a request to have representatives from the City of Monticello tour the Yucca Mountain area as a possible storage site for spent nuclear rods. The estimated cost for the tour of the site would be $850/per person. Wayne Mayer didn't feel this trip was necessary. Glen Posusta felt since there was a nuclear plant located in Monticello, the City should know about what is going on with the storage of nuclear waste. GLEN POSUSTA MOVED TO SEND CLINT HERBST, GLEN POSUSTA AND A STAFF PERSON FOR A TOUR OF THE YUCCA MOUNTAIN SITE ON FEBRUARY 22-23, 2006. BRIAN STUMPF SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED WITH WAYNE MAYE AND TOM PERRAULT VOTING IN OPPOSITION. 3. Adjourn: The meeting was adjourned at 7:45 p.m. Recording Secretary ' L