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2023-09-20 Salary Commission AgendaPUBLIC HEARING NOTICE EDMONDS SALARY COMMISSION On September 19t" and September 20th Edmonds Salary Commission will hold a public hearing regarding the following issue: Salary Commission decision on elected officials (Mayor, Council, Council President) compensation for the years 2024 and 2025 The meeting will be held in the Fourtner Room of Edmonds City Hall located as 121 5th Avenue N., Edmonds, Washington. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 5:00 pm and will last one hour. All interested persons are encouraged to attend and provide oral and/or written comments. Written comments may be sent to citizens-salary@edmondswa.gov zj&'�L BA Taylor Salary Commissio hair Published: September 16,2023 Posted: September 14, 2023 WARNING! THE REMOVAL, MUTILATION, DESTRUCTION, OR CONCEALMENT OF THIS NOTICE BEFORE THE DATE OF THE MEETING IS A MISDEMEANOR PUNISHABLE BY FINE AND IMPRISONMENT. THIS NOTICE MAY BE REMOVED AFTER September 20, 2023 Parking and meeting rooms are accessible for persons with disabilities. Contact the City Clerk at (425) 771-2525 with 24 hours advance notice for special accommodations. WORKING DRAFT — September 9, 2023 CITY OF EDMONDS SALARY COMMISSION Commissioner Bill Taylor, Chair Commissioner Kathy Ehrlich Commissioner Gary Holton Commissioner Brook Roberts Commissioner Angela Zhang September___, 2023 To: Mayor Mike Nelson Council President Neil Tibbott Council Members From: Commissioner Bill Taylor, Chair, on behalf of the Salary Commission Re: Salary Commission Determinations for 2024 and 2025 The Salary Commission has fulfilled its responsibilities as set forth in Edmonds City Code 10.80.030. This letter summarizes our work processes and the decisions reached with respect to salaries for the Mayor, Council President, and Council Members. We express our sincere appreciation for the highly supportive staff assistance we received whenever requested. HR Director Jessica Neill Hoyson and Council Executive Assistant Beckie Peterson were always attentive and responsive when needed. Others helped us with our questions about email processes. Still others made sure we understood the public meeting and document retention requirements. Collectively they made our work go smoothly. In addition, Shannon Drohman and her team from Compensation Connections worked responsively and promptly to provide the research and data collection we requested. Explanations About How We Conducted Our Work We took our Salary Commission responsibilities seriously. The five of us worked diligently and harmoniously to reach the decisions presented in this letter. We conducted seven public meetings each about 2 hours in duration. We solicited public input through three press releases and through other outreach efforts to civic and community groups. We held two Public Hearings. We personally interviewed all seven council members and the mayor. In addition to the activities mentioned above, we also spent numerous hours individually studying and evaluating the information we had at hand in preparation for our public meetings. WORKING DRAFT — September 9, 2023 Salary Commission Determinations September_, 2023 Page 2 of 6 With the aid of our consultant, Compensation Connections, we evaluated Western Washington cities to narrow down our data collection efforts. Seeking comparability to Edmonds, our criteria for selection were: • A mayor -council form of government. • Within plus or minus 50% the size of Edmonds for population and assessed valuation. For example, using round numbers, with Edmonds' population at about 40,000 we looked for cities in the 20,000 to 60,000 range. Likewise, for assessed valuation. That analysis yielded 16 comparable cities. From those cities our consultant then collected data regarding: • Current salary paid to their mayor, including all related benefits and perquisites. • Current salaries paid to their city council members, including all related benefits and perquisites. • Salary or benefit differentials for the council president. • Time requirements for their council members. We also considered other boards or councils providing guidance and oversight for other civic and community organizations. Beckie Peterson provided us with some very useful information she gathered from a council member survey. From the report she produced we had a clear picture of council member estimates of their time requirements for 17 different categories of responsibility, both "required" and "voluntary". From that report we learned that typical time requirements for our seven council members are approximately 115 hours per month; 26.5 hours per week. With this data in hand, and a list of prepared questions, our commission members interviewed all seven council members and the mayor. We discussed time requirements, DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) concerns, and any other matters those individuals wished to bring to our attention. Each interview was conducted with two commissioners present and typically lasted at least 30 minutes. We listened, we heard, and we learned. Shortly after the interviews, in one of our public commission meetings, we shared among the five of us what we heard and what we learned from each of the eight interviews. As a side note, we were aware that there are no job descriptions for council members. This was also mentioned by the previous salary commission when they expanded upon the value of such documentation, with reference to the job descriptions in effect with our neighboring city, Lynnwood. We, too, see the merit in having clear, concise job descriptions for city council members. WORKING DRAFT — September 9, 2023 Salary Commission Determinations September_, 2023 Page 3 of 6 Using Seattle -area all -item CPI-U data, we examined inflation since the last salary decisions were made. We also looked at the cost -of -living increases provided to non -represented City employees during that same time period. We gave careful consideration to DEI matters, especially with respect to how our salary decisions might have meaningful impact. Ensuring that all citizens of Edmonds are represented fairly, and have equitable opportunities to participate in the governance of our city is, without question, an important concern. Service on the city council is a part-time, albeit demanding job. Historically these positions have been filled by qualified citizens, willing to endure the rigors of the election process so they could serve in the best interests of our city and its citizens. Modest salaries have traditionally been provided to reward such dedicated service. As we explored this matter of DEI in some depth, we came to realize that the Mayor and City Council Members have vastly more influence on DEI than could the Salary Commission. Essentially, creating and maintaining an environment of DEI for all citizens of Edmonds is their responsibility, not that of the Salary Commission. However, it is also apparent to the Salary Commission that opportunities for public service are somewhat limited to those individuals with enough discretionary time and income to enable them to meet the demands of elected office. An argument could be made that such opportunities could be expanded to a larger population base if the salaries for council service were expanded to reflect market -based compensation. To do so would require a sharp departure from the traditional "modest compensation recognizing public service" model. That change would have a substantial impact on the city's budget with no clear guarantee that it would actually impact DEI. Accordingly, we believe that other measures within the purview of the City Council and the Mayor should be directed towards the DEI concerns before addressing the matter with very large salary increases for City Council Members. Decisions Now, in this context of how we approached our important responsibility, here are the decisions we reached, along with our reasoning for those decisions. WORKING DRAFT — September 9, 2023 Salary Commission Determinations September _, 2023 Page 4 of 6 For Mayor Salary The salary for the office of Mayor for 2024 and 2025 shall be as follows: • Effective January 1, 2024 the annual salary for the mayor shall be $156,123. • The benefit package for the mayor shall remain unchanged from the current level. • Effective January 1, 2025 the salary for the mayor shall be increased by the same percentage used to adjust salaries for all other City of Edmonds non -represented positions. Our Reasoning: We carefully examined the mayor salaries paid by the 16 comparable jurisdictions from which we had data. (See Attachment A) After eliminating data from four of those jurisdictions with only part-time mayors, we calculated the average and median for the remaining 12. The average annual salary was $141,400; the median was $130,464. Our mayor is currently paid $136,211, with that rate having become effective January 1, 2021. It has remained unchanged since then. Taking into account the amounts paid by similar jurisdictions, along with the salary adjustments provided for all other non -represented employees (as shown on Attachment A), we decided upon an annual salary of $156,123, a reasonable amount in comparison to other local cities. For Council Member Salary The salary for the position of council member shall be adjusted as follows: • Effective January 1, 2024 the salary for each council member shall be $20,462 per year. • The benefit package for council persons shall remain unchanged from the current level. • The additional stipend for the role of Council President shall be set at 20% of the annual salary for council members. Beginning January 1, 2024 that amount will be $341 per month. • Effective January 1, 2025 the salary for each council person shall be increased by the same percentage used to adjust salaries for all other City of Edmonds non -represented positions. • In addition to the above, the City shall establish a "Low -Income Supplement" in the amount of $500 per month. This supplement will be available to any duly elected council member who can demonstrate with two years of properly filed tax returns that their income is less than 80% of the reported median income for Snohomish County. Our Reasoning: We carefully examined council member salaries paid by the 16 comparable jurisdictions for which we had data. (See Attachment B) One city was a clear outlier in that they pay their city council members at a rate 2.7 times greater than the next highest city. In the WORKING DRAFT — September 9, 2023 Salary Commission Determinations September_, 2023 Page 5 of 6 interests of not unnecessarily inflating the comparative data, we eliminated that city from our data base, leaving 15 cities for comparison. The average annual salary for those 15 cities was $14,602; the median was $14,400. Our council members are currently paid $17,000, with that rate having become effective January 1, 2021. It has remained unchanged since then. In general, we found the benefits and perquisites provided to the council members to be comparable (with city -by -city variations of course) and in accordance with common municipal pay practices. We did note that Edmonds council members have the option to participate in the Association of Washington Cities health insurance program. Should they decline that coverage, they are entitled to an "in -lieu -of" payment of $912.30 per month, adjusted from time -to -time to reflect current insurance rates. Some current council members accept that insurance coverage. Some opt for the "in -lieu of" payment. We realize there is a strong motive of community service in play with most, if not all, of our present and future city council members. We acknowledge and honor that spirit. We also feel strongly that some level of respectful compensation should be provided to reward that commitment to service. To the extent that salaries do, in fact, help attract the most qualified candidates for our city we wanted to be sure Edmonds is in the most favorable position. We are mindful that much of the time our council members spend on their official duties is "required" time preparing for and attending various meetings. Inevitably, however, there is also additional time spent on activities that council members feel a responsibility to include as part of their commitment to being accessible and responsible to our citizenry. Taking all this into account, along with the survey of time requirements and our interviews with each council member (and the mayor), we decided to work from an average of 25 hours per week. We considered three approaches to determining our salary decision: • Comparisons to other cities • Calculations based on the pattern of increases provided to non -represented employees (included in Attachment 8). • A minimum wage analysis based on 25 hours per week. 25 hours at $15.74 per hour equates to $393.50 per week. That comes to $20,462 per year. Since a salary amount based upon comparisons to other cities and a salary amount based upon the pattern of increases to non -represented employees would still result in council member salaries less than the State minimum wage, we decided upon $20,462, using the minimum wage as a baseline. WORKING DRAFT —September 9, 2023 Salary Commission Determinations September_, 2023 Page 6 of 6 The Low -Income Supplement was included as the one clear step the Commission could take to address the perceived economic barrier that might prevent a broader cross-section of our city residents from running for office. That supplement, coupled with the option to decline city provided health insurance and receive an "in lieu of" payment could meaningfully address the DEI concern mentioned earlier in this letter. Under those circumstances a "low-income" council member could earn the basic salary of $20,462 plus the low-income supplement of $6,000 plus the insurance "in -lieu -of" payment of $11,056. This would result in an annual total compensation of $37,518. Budget Impact The changes recommended above, with the exception of the low-income supplement, with a estimated 4% non -represented salary adjustment for 2025, would impact the city's budget as follows: 2024 2025 Increase Increase Mayor salary 19,912 20,708 Council salaries 24,234 25,203 President Stipend 492 512 Total 44,638 46,423 We reviewed this potential budget impact with the City Administrative Services Director and were assured that such amounts could be readily accommodated in the City's budget. We are pleased to have been of service to our community, and submit this report unanimously. Commissioner Bill Taylor, Chair Commissioner Kathy Ehrlich Commissioner Gary Holton Commissioner Brook Roberts Commissioner Angela Zhang Attachment A WORKING DRAFT -- SEPTEMBER 9, 2023 Edmonds Salary Commission September_, 2023 SUMMARY OF 11SALARY DATA ASSESSED PER CITY SALARY POPULATION VALUATION CAPITA Oak Harbor 60,192 24,780 2,526,249,219 101,947 Arlington 98,964 21,740 3,669,529,566 168,792 Bremerton 114,000 44,640 5,034,577,765 112,782 Lake Stevens 118,689 41,260 6,070,151,750 147,120 Issaquah 123,691 41,290 13,697,120,487 331,730 Lynnwood 129,234 40,790 8,481,263,134 207,925 Tukwila 131,694 22,780 7,986,365,586 350,587 Mount Vernon 166,207 35,590 4,634,225,374 130,211 Marysville 172,512 73,780 10,902,282,244 147,767 Federal Way 179,570 102,000 14,210,298,330 139,317 Auburn 180,851 88,280 14,375,388,296 162,839 Bellingham 221,196 95,960 16,724,290,897 174,284 Total 1,696,800 632,890 108,311,742,648 2,175,300 Average Median Edmonds Salary on 1/1/21 Increase for 2021 Salary on 1/1/22 Increase for 2022 Salary on 1/1/23 Increase for 2023 Salary on 1/1/24 141,400 52,741 9,025,978,554 181,275 130,464 41,275 8,233,814,360 199,485 136,211 43,370 12,578,962,335 290,038 ANALYSIS CPI-U* City Non -Rep History Ee Sal. Adj. 136,211 136,211 4.6% 4.0% 142,477 141,659 9.0% 3.0% 155,300 145,909 4.0% 7.0% 161,512 156,123 * CPI-U is for Seattle Area All items 2023 Increase is estimated Salary Data Source: Compensation Connections August 2023 Attachment B CITY WORKING DRAFT -- SEPTEMBER 9, 2023 Edmonds Salary Commission September_, 2023 SUMMARY OF CITY COUNCIL SALARY DATA -- Excluding Bellingham ASSESSED PER SALARY POPULATION VALUATION CAPITA Mukilteo 6,000 21,590 6,009,246,123 278,335 Oak Harbor 9,024 24,780 2,526,249,219 101,947 Bonney Lake 10,200 23,250 4,111,070,430 176,820 Tumwater 10,500 27,100 4,649,454,436 171,567 Lynnwood 10,800 40,790 8,481,263,134 207,925 Lake Stevens 11,244 41,260 6,070,151,750 147,120 Camas 12,540 27,420 5,944,128,239 216,781 Mount Vernon 14,400 35,590 4,634,225,374 130,211 Tukwila 15,000 22,780 7,986,365,586 350,587 Federal Way 17,621 102,000 14,210,298,330 139,317 Bremerton 18,421 44,640 5,034,577,765 112,782 Marysville 18,576 73,780 10,902,282,244 147,767 Auburn 18,662 88,280 14,375,388,296 162,839 Issaquah 20,400 41,290 13,697,120,487 331,730 Arlington 25,647 21,740 3,669,529,566 168,792 Total 219,035 636,290 112,301,350,979 2,844,518 Average 14,602 42,419 7,486,756,732 189,635 Median 14,400 35,590 6,009,246,123 168,846 Edmonds 17,000 43,370 12,578,962,335 290,038 ANALYSIS CPI-U* City Non -Rep History Ee Sal. Adj. Salary on 1/1/21 17,000 17,000 Increase for 2021 4.6% 4.0% Salary on 1/1/22 17,782 17,680 Increase for 2022 9.0% 3.0% Salary on 1/1/23 19,382 18,210 Increase for 2023 4.0% 7.0% Salary on 1/1/24 20,158 19,485 * CPI-U is for Seattle Area All items 2023 Increase is estimated Salary Data Source: Compensation Connections August -September 2023