2019-09-04 Salary Commission MinutesSALARY COMMISSION
Meeting Minutes
SPECIALLY CALLED MEETING
Wednesday, September 4, 2019
7:00 pm
Police Department Training Room
250 5t" Ave. N., Edmonds, WA 98020
Present: Jay Grant, Chair
Ava Dubno, Vice -Chair
Don Hall, Commissioner
Jeff Hodson, Commissioner
Marilynne Beard, Consultant, MMB Consulting
Excused: Carl Zapora, Commissioner
CALL TO ORDER
Chair Grant called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Chair Grant asked the Commissioners if they had any changes to the agenda.
There were no changes requested to the agenda and the agenda was approved
as submitted.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Chair Grant asked the Commissioners if there were any changes to the Meeting
Minutes of the August 21, 2019 meeting. Chair Grant had communicated one edit
that he had requested. With that edit, Vice -Chair Dubno moved approval of the
minutes. Commissioner Hodson seconded the motion. The minutes were
approved unanimously.
PUBLIC COMMENT
There were no members of the public present. Chair Grant closed the public
comment period.
DISCUSSION ITEMS
Follow-up from August 21, 2019 Meeting
ELW 7/2/2019
The Commission reviewed a list of comparable cities used by Edmonds to
conduct non -represented salary surveys. The list is based on adopted Council
policy (Attachment A). Chair Grant noted that most of the comparable cities are
Council/Manager forms of government whereas the Salary Commission had
been focusing on Mayor/Council forms of government for their review of
comparable cities. Commissioner Hodson pointed out that the comparable cities
used for the 2017 Salary Commission process which were different than the non -
represented list and the cities provided in the staff's spreadsheet of comparable
cities provided for the 2019 process.
Potential Adjustments to Elected Officials' Compensation
Chair Grant opened the Commission discussion about possible adjustments to
the Mayor and City Council compensation including the Council President.
Chair Grant led a roundtable discussion with the Commissioners about
compensation and shared an email that he had received from Commissioner
Zapora concerning the Mayor's salary (Attachment B). Commissioner Zapora
had expressed his support for adjusting the Mayor's salary to be closer to those
of department directors. Chair Grant noted that the Mayor's current salary is
within the range of directors' salaries, albeit at the low range. Commissioner Hall
supported providing the same cost of living adjustment for the Mayor as was
used for non -represented employees. The Commissioners continued their
discussion including how the Mayor's salary should relate to the comparable
cities and whether to apply a percentage or flat dollar amount. CPI-U is currently
between 2.3% to 3%.
Vice -Chair Dubno provided a summary of all the methods and considerations
that the Commission had discussed in previous meetings held in 2019. The
Commission briefly discussed the potential for an accountability measure and
agreed that proper tracking and its use for determining compensation remains
problematic.
Commissioner Hall made a motion to provide a 4% increase to the Mayor's
salary effective January 1, 2020 and another 4% increase effective January 1,
2021. This reflects a cost of living adjustment as well as a market adjustment to
keep the Mayor's salary at the median of comparable cities, based on the same
cities as used in the 2017 process; and to maintain the Mayor's health benefits at
the same level as non -represented employees. Commissioner Hodson
seconded the motion. The motion was approved unanimously,
The Commission then turned to the Council President's salary which is based on
the Council's salary plus an additional amount that recognizes their extra
responsibilities. The Commission discussed the range of input received from the
Community and Council surveys. Commissioner Hodson made a motion to
increase the Council President's additional increment from $200 to $300 per
month. Commissioner Hall seconded the motion. The motion was approved
unanimously.
The Commission then turned to the Council's salary and reviewed their
discussion from the previous meeting. The Commission agreed that the
Council's salary should also reflect the median of other cities, again using the
same comparable cities as those used in the 2017 process and maintaining
health benefits at the same level as currently have. Commissioner Hodson made
a motion to increase City Council salaries by 6% effective January 1, 2020 and
another 6% effective January 1, 2021 and to maintain health care benefits. The
commission discussed the median salary based on comparable cities which
would be $1,350 monthly. Council's current monthly salary is $1,250 monthly.
Commissioner Hodson offered an amendment to the main motion to increase
Council salaries by a flat amount of $1,000 per year for 2020 and $1,000 per
year for 2021. Chair Grant seconded the motion. The amendment was
approved unanimously. The Commission then voted on the main motion which
was approved unanimously.
Discussion of Memo and Presentation for the September 17 City Council
Meeting
Chair Grant reminded the commission that the September 11 meeting will be the
last meeting before the September 17 City Council meeting and the Commission
would need to finalize their recommendation, forward it to the City Attorney for
review and file it with the City Clerk prior to September 17.
Chair Grant will prepare a draft memo for Commission review and discussion at
the September 11 meeting and Commissioner Hodson will prepare a draft
presentation. Chair Grant asked the Commissioners to review survey results and
to choose comments that they believe should be highlighted in the Council
presentation. The Commission agreed to highlight the number of survey
responses received and to thank the City Council for their prompt response to the
Council survey.
OTHER
There were no other items for discussion.
Chair Grant adjourned the meeting at 9:00 pm.
Future Commission Meeting Schedule
• Wednesday, September 11, 2019 7:00 pm — Commission Meeting
ATTACHMENTS
A — Summary of Comparable Cities used by Edmonds for Non -represented
Salary Surveys and adopted policy
B — Email from Commissioner Zapora to Chair Grant
City of Edmonds Non -Represented Comparator Cities
Below are the comparator cities used for the 2018 Non -Rep salary study
based off of Council's policy. This includes 5 cities above our population
and 3 below within 10,000 either way. The OFM population report was
used.
City County I Population
Lake Stevens
Snohomish
31,740
University Place
Pierce
32,610
Issaquah
King
36,030
Lynnwood
Snohomish
36,950
Puyallup
Pierce
40,500
Edmonds
Snohomish
41,260
Bothell
King/Snohomish
44,370
Lacey
Thurston
48,700
Burien
King
50,680
City of Emdonds 2017 Personnel Policies: 5.5 Non Represented Employees Excerpt (pg 23-24)
ANNUAL SALARY ADJUSTMENTS
The Mayor will recommend the adjustment of salary ranges for non -represented employees to
the City Council for approval as part of the budget process, effective January 1 of each year. The
Mayor's recommendation will take into consideration the average adjustment negotiated and
approved for represented employee groups. Each employee will maintain the same step within
the newly approved salary range that they held prior to the adjustment.
In addition, the City will attempt to mitigate compression issues as they arise. The Mayor will
make appropriate and timely recommendations to City Council to maintain internal equity and
prevent compression issues.
MARKET ANALYSIS
The Human Resources Department will conduct compensation surveys for each non -represented
benchmark position no later than September 1, every three years. The following criteria will be
used for determining which cities are comparable for the purposes of analyzing and comparing
compensation ("Qualified Comparable Cities"):
Comparable cities must be located in Snohomish, King, Pierce or Thurston counties;
and
Comparable cities will include all cities with a population that is no more than 10,000
over or no more than 10,000 under the population of the City of Edmonds according
to the most recent population figures published by the Washington State Office of
Financial Management or a similar successor government agency; and
The application of the above criteria will be utilized to select a minimum of eight
agencies that are closest in population to the City of Edmonds. If this process yields
fewer than eight comparable cities (not counting Edmonds) for analysis during a
particular year, additional cities shall be selected for analysis by adding an additional
City or cities, up to eight, with agencies that are outside the 10,000 over/under criteria,
but that are the next closest in population to the City of Edmonds, with the goal of
having 50% of the cities with a higher population and 50% with a lower population than
Edmonds.
Additionally, private sector data will be gathered and considered where it is a significant factor in
the City's competitiveness.
Benchmark positions are those which are assigned clearly recognizable work at a well-defined
level of responsibility, and for which comparable classifications are easily identified to ensure that
sufficient data can be collected. Classifications that are selected as comparable for survey
purposes must match the benchmark position by 80% in level of work and responsibility. Salaries
for comparable positions that are not a complete match may be leveled up or down by a maximum
of 20%, to adjust for differences in the level or scope of responsibility in work duties.
Non -benchmark classifications (those for which there are not adequate comparable
classifications) will be indexed to a corresponding City benchmark position, which is comparable
in required qualifications, scope of work, and level of responsibility.
Salary ranges for benchmarks will be determined by using the prevailing rates in the identified
comparator cities. The City will be competitive within the defined market, but will not assume the
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City of Emdonds 2017 Personnel Policies: 5.5 Non Represented Employees Excerpt (pg 23-24)
position of a lead pay policy compared to the market; therefore the median or 50'h percentile of
the mid -range of salary data collected will be used to determine competitiveness.
Every three years, based upon the survey data, the Mayor will recommend salary range market
adjustments for non -represented positions to City Council. The Mayor will consider the following
criteria in developing the recommendation:
1. Maintain the mid -point of each salary range between 5% high/low of the mid -point of the
comparator City median.
2. Positions requiring adjustment will be assigned to the new salary range within the salary range
table that places the position closest to the comparator City median.
3. Any employee whose actual salary falls below the newly adopted pay range minimum, shall be
adjusted up to the new minimum upon adoption of the new pay ranges.
4. Any employee whose actual salary exceeds the top of the approved salary range, will have
their salary frozen until such time that market rates support pay range adjustment for their job
classification.
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From: "Zapora, Carl (Salary Commission)" <Carl.Zapora@edmondswa.gov>
Date: Wednesday, September 4, 2019 at 2:03 PM
To: Jay Grant <jay@jaygrant.com>
Cc: "mmbconsultl@gmail.com" <mmbconsultl@gmail.com>
Subject: RE: Herald Article
Jay:
Thanks for meeting yesterday. Sorry I can't make it tonight.
After our meeting, I did some more thinking. I would be supportive if an increase in the mayor's salary
to make it more equitable with his/her direct reports. If it can't be done all in one year, I would increase
it a percentage per year until it is more equitable. He/she should be paid at least as much as direct
reports, and in my opinion, more. It's a big job.
Thanks again.
Carl Zapora