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CONSENT ITEM: G3 <br />(continued) <br />4. Comparison with other city staff -Unlike our other staff positions, the City <br />Administrator has no regular step increases. She serves at the will of the council <br />with salary and contract terms negotiated every year. All other employees received a <br />2% salary increase as of January 1, 2003. Her current salary is $53,545 and the <br />highest paid employee currently earns $54,519. <br />5. Financial Resources - We included a 2% salary increase for Heather in our 2003 <br />budget. Anything over that amount would come from our contingency budget, which <br />is currently $13,850. With no anticipated retirements this year, tuition reimbursement <br />is the only expected use of that line item. This will be well under the amount we have <br />budgeted. <br />6. Economic Climate -With state budget cuts to cities and debates about wage freezes, <br />this is a difficult time to recommend substantial pay increases. On the other hand, <br />this is not the time to be "penny wise and pound foolish." We are currently not <br />competitive with surrounding cities in our compensation packages. The cost of <br />replacing our City Administrator because we failed to offer reasonable compensation <br />would be far greater than the cost of slightly increasing her salary. There is still the <br />• possibility that the legislature would enact a future wage freeze so it is important that <br />we do not allow the gap between what we pay and what neighboring cities pay to <br />become even greater. The current "climate" does, however, limit the increase I am <br />recommending to less than I would otherwise have proposed. <br />Based upon these factors and input from Heather, I am making the following <br />recommendations: <br />1. Heather's annual salary should be increased to $55,687 effective April 16, 2003. <br />This is a 4% increase of $2142 in annual salary. This is $1071 more than the 2% <br />we originally budgeted and the difference could come from the contingency line <br />item. Additional FICA will be $164 and PERA will be $118 annually based upon <br />a 4% increase. <br />2. Heather currently receives no car allowance and does not submit requests for <br />reimbursement for mileage unless it is away from the metro area. She does, <br />however, attend many meetings on our behalf and uses her personal vehicle to get <br />there. Heather should start receiving $35 per month as a small car allowance. <br />• <br />~a <br />