UPDATE: Redding Council approves pay raises for top executives
Agreeing that salary increases are required to recruit and retain workers in the city's top jobs, the Redding City Council on Tuesday night approved giving raises to its executive managers.
The council approved the measure, which goes into effect later this month, by a 3-2 vote. Not all of the positions slated for increases are currently filled, although recruitments are underway for several of the posts.
"Our electric director just gave notice last week and is going to the city of Roseville," said City Manager Barry Tippin of the situation, while the higher-paying California Department of Transportation has hired away several Redding city engineers, he said.
Of the city's 88 executives, 48 are eligible for retirement in the next two years, heightening the importance of succession planning, Tippin said.
"As we have opportunities to hire good, quality employees to help with succession planning, we have to be able to do that," he said. "Using luck as a recruitment strategy is just not going to be successful."
The total cost of the proposed raises for all 88 positions would be approximately $1.3 million, with $670,000 coming from the general fund. There is sufficient budget available for the increase, the city's staff report says.
A consulting firm hired by the city recently determined that Redding pays less in total benefits than some comparable cities, including Chico, Tippin said.
Voting in favor of awarding pay boosts were Mayor Kristen Schreder and council members Erin Resner and Julie Winter. Council members Michael Dacquisto and Mark Mezzano voted against the measure.
"Can either council member who disagrees with these raises offer me a solution to finding qualified candidates aside from paying a competitive wage?" asked Resner immediately before the council took a vote following more than an hour of discussion. "I think that at the moment, we need a solution right now. We are not far off from a bleeding situation."
Mezzano spoke against giving raises to the city's "fat cats," but not the "little people." He asked: "What is that going to do to our rank and file?"
Dacquisto said he might support periodic cost of living increases, but was "not OK" with immediate, double-digit salary boosts that could lead to higher employee pension costs.
"We're using taxpayer money, not our money. As a result of that, we have an obligation to be more prudent with the money that we spend," said Dacquisto.
The report said the city is now sitting on firmer financial ground at a time when pay rates for Redding's top-level workers isn't keeping up with labor market rates.
"The compensation report data indicates that the unrepresented classifications have fallen further out of market over the past 10 years than most of the City’s represented employees," the report said.
Redding hired a consultant to study salary and benefits for all its represented and unrepresented positions. For unrepresented workers, results were compared to the benchmark cities of Chico, Davis, Fairfield, Folsom, Lodi, Roseville, Tracy, Turlock, Vacaville and Woodland.
The city-owned Redding Electric Utility also completed a parallel study to examine additional unrepresented positions with different comparable agencies, the staff report said.
When comparing salaries only, the study found, "as a group, the unrepresented classifications are approximately 29% below the market median." After making an adjustment for the cost of housing, Redding's unrepresented classifications were found to be about 31% below the market median, the study said.
Individually, the local classifications ranged from 6% to 75% behind the market, the study found, with the majority being 20% to 30% below the market median.
Staff recommendations included increasing salary ranges of managers who are not represented by a labor union by 5% to 40%.
While the city in 2017 faced a projected budget deficit of $30 million over a 10-year span, Redding is now on strong financial footing, said the staff report. That's due to an improving economy, sound fiscal decisions over the years and employees paying more toward their benefits, the report said.
Now the city can ensure "its employees are fairly compensated for the excellent work they do," said the staff report.
The city staff report said immediate salary increases could go into effect on Sunday. Executives set for the raises include Tippin (16%), City Attorney Barry DeWalt (15%) and Police Chief Bill Schueller (13%).
Other council actions
The council on Tuesday also voted unanimously to add one full-time personnel analyst to its personnel division to assist with training, creating orientation programs, creating new recruitment strategies and other duties.
The number of workers in the personnel department has stood "stagnant" at seven since 2011, Personnel Manager Kelley Martinez said.
And the council voted to notify more residents of the Garden Tract community about a proposed rezoning for downtown Redding that could impact their community.
After those notices go out, a public hearing on the issue would continue in mid-February, when potential traffic calming measures would also be discussed.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Pay for many of Redding's top employees could be about to rise.
The City Council will take up the issue of whether to boost the executive management salary plan at its meeting on Tuesday night.
Executives who could receive salary increases under the proposal include City Manager Barry Tippin (16%), City Attorney Barry DeWalt (15%) and Police Chief Bill Schueller (13%).
"This is simply a recommendation; no decisions have been made at this time," said Assistant City Manager and Personnel Director Sheri DeMaagd. "The council will review the recommendations and confer and make a determination tonight on how to move forward with the information provided."
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Staff recommendations include increasing salary ranges of managers by 5% to 40%.
The total cost of the proposed raises for all 88 positions would be approximately $1.3 million, with $670,000 coming from the general fund. There is sufficient budget available for this increase, the city's staff report says.
If approved, the city staff report said, salary increases could go into effect on Jan. 23.
The recommendations take into account results from a study of what similar positions pay in the region, the staff report said. That comparison found that "market issues" exist, according to the report.
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"The compensation report data indicates that the unrepresented classifications have fallen further out of market over the past 10 years than most of the City’s represented employees," the city's report said.
If approved by the council during their meeting on Tuesday, unrepresented employees would be eligible immediately for the total wage adjustment percentage identified for their assigned classification.
Why raises are being considered
Pay in Redding isn't keeping up with the labor market rate, the report said, while the city is now sitting on firmer financial ground.
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The city hired a consultant to study salary and benefits for all represented and unrepresented positions. For unrepresented workers, results were compared to the benchmark cities of Chico, Davis, Fairfield, Folsom, Lodi, Roseville, Tracy, Turlock, Vacaville and Woodland.
The city-owned Redding Electric Utility also completed a parallel study to examine additional unrepresented positions with different comparable agencies, the staff report said.
When comparing salaries only, the study found, "as a group, the unrepresented classifications are approximately 29% below the market median." After making an adjustment for the cost of housing, Redding's unrepresented classifications were found to be about 31% below the market median, the study said.
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Individually, the classifications range from 6% to 75% behind the market, the study found, with the majority being 20% to 30% below the market median.
While the city in 2017 faced a projected budget deficit of $30 million over a 10-year span, Redding is now on very strong, sound financial footing, said the staff report, due to an improving economy, sound fiscal decisions and employees paying more toward their benefits.
Now the city can ensure "its employees are fairly compensated for the excellent work they do," said the staff report.
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City staff is also recommending eliminating the educational and professional incentives and specialty assignment pay for public safety managers, including the police chief, fire chief and deputy fire chief.
Most employees included as "Classic CalPERS Miscellaneous Members" would pay more toward their retirement benefit. Any increase would not apply to the police chief, fire chief and deputy fire chief as they are already paying more toward their retirement benefit following the council's action on April 20, 2021, DeMaagd said.
Michele Chandler covers city government and housing issues for the Redding Record Searchlight/USA Today Network. Follow her on Twitter at @MChandler_RS, call her at 530-225-8344 or email her at michele.chandler@redding.com. Please support our entire newsroom's commitment to public service journalism by subscribing today.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: UPDATE: Redding Council approves pay raises for top execs
