HomeMy WebLinkAbout12/01/2008 Work Session
'"
City of Springfield
Work Session Meeting
MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF
THE SPRINGFIELD CIIT COUNCIL HELD
MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2008
The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Library Meeting Room, 225 Fifth
Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, December 1,2008 at 6:00 p.m., with Mayor Leiken
presiding.
ATTENDANCE
Present were Mayor Leiken and Councilors Lundberg, Wylie, Ballew, Woodrow and Pishioneri.
Also present were City Manager Gino Grimaldi, Assistant City Manager Jeff Towery, City
Attorney Bill Van Vactor, City Recorder Amy Sowa and members of the staff.
Councilor Ralston was absent (excused).
1. Status - Classification and Compensation Study.
Human Services Director Bill Spiry presented this item. In February of2008 Council authorized
the City to proceed with a comprehensive classification and compensation project to correct
problems associated with the current obsolete systems. This presentation is intended to:
· Update Council regarding the status of the classification and compensation project,
· Seek Council direction regarding comparable labor market for the City, and
· Review the objectives of the study and what will be occurring in the following months.
The classification and compensation project commenced in July of this year and is anticipated to
conclude with a final report and recommendations to Council in July of2009. The goals ofthis
study are to update and redesign the position classification system, to redesign the compensation
plan to most effectively support the strategic objectives of the City, and to establish salary ranges
that are appropriately competitive with our comparable and relevant labor markets.
Once the classification structure design has been completed and compensation data has been
collected, Council will receive an update on the project and will be asked for policy direction on
the City's targeted position to the labor market for compensation. We anticipate this will occur
in Spring, 2009. The final report for this project, including implementation options, will come to
Council for consideration in the Summer 2009.
In preparation for the compensation study and plan design phase, Council is being asked to
establish policy regarding the appropriate labor market to be surveyed based on the
recommendations discussed in this briefing. The following parameters are recommended:
· Inclusion of Oregon cities with population size Y2 to one and one half Springfield's
population.
· Inclusion of other local and/or regional public agencies with which Springfield routinely
competes for employees.
City of Springfield
Council Work Session Minutes
December 1, 2008
Page 2
· Inclusion of a selection of specific local private sector employers selected based upon
those with which Springfield may compete for City jobs that are applicable to the private
or public sectors, and consideration of published compensation surveys recon:unended by
the consultant.
Mr. Spiry introduced Bruce Lawson, the City's principal from Fox, Lawson and Associates, the
fIrm hired to conduct this study. He explained the process to this point. Fox, Lawson and
Associates staff would go out to gather comparable information for the compensation portion of
this study. After analysis of the compensation data, staff would bring recommendations to
Council and options for implementation.
Councilor Ballew said the City's current classification system had about two employees per
position. She asked how they were going to be able to reduce that ratio.
Mr. Spiry said Fox, Lawson and Associates had developed a draft plan which reduced our
classifications from about 115 to 60. Those included all non-uniform employees, with the
exception of Police Captains, Sergeants and uniformed managers in Fire and Life Safety.
Councilor Ballew asked if their early estimate of $322,000 - $644,000 was for full
implementation.
Mr. Spiry said at the time staff provided that estimate, it was pretty much just a ball park figure,
and still was. The Executive Team would try to come up with a recommendation to Council
based on a budgetary standpoint and what the City could afford for next year. That fIgure would
be the basis on which the implementation strategy would be designed.
Councilor Ballew asked if they thought that figure was close.
Mr. Spiry said he was not sure because they hadn't done the compensation portion of the study
yet.
Mr. Lawson said the compensation phase was coming up quickly, and once the classification was
finished, they could go forward with that phase. They now needed guidance on what type of
organizations should be included in the survey and the general criteria. Over the last several
months, Fox Lawson had been working with City staff to talk through the potentially different
markets so they were aware that the City recruited in different parts of the state. They suggested
some different approaches for the study based on how the City had done business in the past.
There were also federal guidelines that needed to be followed that required a minimum number
of participants or data points (five) in order to use the data. He gave background on these
guidelines.
Mr. Lawson said when talking with staff about what organizations to consider for comparables,
they determined that it would be best to focus on organizations in Oregon, as indicated in the
materials in the agenda packet, for ease of comparability. He explained. They also tried to factor
in the ability to normalize the data collected to Springfield using information from the Economic
Research Institute (ERI). He discussed the jurisdictions noted in the agenda packet. There were
certain jobs the City recruited for in both the private and public sector. In those cases, it was
appropriate to look at that data. It was difficult at times to get participation from the local private
City of Springfield
Council Work Session Minutes
December 1, 2008
Page 3
sector, but there was published data that could be used. Some jobs were more comparable than
others, such as management. They would try to get local data that fit.
Councilor Pishioneri asked if there was a part of the study that had correct information on the
,emerging working pool with the current economic situation. He asked which of the cities used
for comparables had conducted a comparable class and comp study within the last 5 years.
Mr. Lawson said his firm just finished a study in the last year for the City of Grants Pass and
Bend. They were currently in the process of working with Jackson County. The conducted a
survey for Roseburg last year and two years ago they fmished a study for Lane County
administration. They would be getting new data because each of those organizations defined
their markets a little differently and mayor may not have used the same data.
Councilor Pishioneri asked if they looked at comparable title or the job done.
Mr. Lawson said they surveyed on the job description, not the title. One of the issues with the
City's current system was that it was so narrow it was difficult to compare. Springfield currently
had a 2 to 1 ratio, and most organizations were typically 10 to 1. He also noted that the City's
pay system had a ratio of approximately 4 to 1, with the lowest paying job at approximately
$26;000/year to the average for department heads of about $100,000. Twenty to twenty-five
years ago, the pay system typically had a 10 to 1 ratio between the highest and lowest. In the
public sector, pay ratios had come down substantially, causing compression within the pay scale.
Mr. Lawson referred to Councilor Pishioneri' s question regarding the available labor market.
They could ask questions about the jobs and what they paid, but it was more difficult to get
information regarding turnover. They recognized the current labor market and could factor that
in, but were seeing that there were two situations: 1) employers cutting positions due to
economic circumstances; and 2) the general shift in demographics and age of the workers. By
2012, on a national basis, eighty million people would be eligible to retire, and there would only
be fifty million to replace them. They needed to make certain the City could attract the people
they wanted to attract and retain them given those circumstances. They would look at the City's
turnover rate, any difficulties it had and what other employers were doing. This would be a
snapshot in time when doing the comparables. They would look at the compensation in the
aggregate.
c
Councilor Woodrow asked if the information for the other entities was propriety or if they could
use it to augment their benchmarks if they didn't receive enough responses.
Mr. Lawson said it was not propriety data and could be used if it fit the jobs. If new data couldn't
be obtained, they could use the information from the survey done last year for Grants Pass and
Bend and trend it forward.
Councilor Woodrow asked about the ERI standards. He asked if it would apply to positions out
of state.
Mr. Lawson said it did apply. They could take data from any zip code, run it through the ERI and
adjust it regarding base pay to fit our area. The issue with out of state data was trying to compare
benefits and other factors outside of the base pay.
City of Springfield
Council Work Session Minutes
December 1,2008
Page 4
Councilor Woodrow asked if the ERI standard weighed for benefit standards.
Mr. Lawson said the ratios would be consistent, but the difficulty was in ~etting comparable
data. He explained.
Councilor Ballew said in the private sector, business was based on supply and demand. Public
agencies, by comparing with each other, had presented an artificial comparability. She asked
how that was addressed.
Mr. Lawson said they first determined how they defined their labor market. He gave an example
of an entry level clerk: For other jobs, the private sector was not a player. He discussed the
different jobs and how they were recruited for either regionally or statewide. When looking at
private sector data, up through the level of the fair labor standard non-exempt jobs, the public
sector did pay better than the private sector. At about the level of accountant, the private sector
paid better. They cautioned clients about that in the upper level jobs. They needed to be careful
of what information was used.
Councilor Ballew said the higher paid jobs would be fewer than the lower paid positions, costing
more.
Mr. Lawson said that was a struggle of trying to determine how to get people to stay. This study
only focused on the classification and compensation piece, not the total HR component regarding
recruiting and training and development. Economics would ultimately be a major factor.
Councilor Wylie said there were probably a number of studies comparing public and private pay
scales. She asked if they would use those studies.
. Mr. Lawson said there were organizations that did large national surveys. The City could get that
general information without doing a specific survey. When doing those studies, they did find that
generally the public sector had treated their employees across the board better than the private
sector in total compensation. Part of the problem had resulted in the compressed structure
currently in place. As the population aged, getting people to accept positions with greater
responsibility when they were currently making good money and overtime, was difficult as there
was little incentive. The consultant's job was to collect good data and provide the information.
Councilor Wylie said they wanted to see what the corporate engineer was making versus our
stormwater engineers.
Mr. Lawson said they would provide that information to the Council and then it would be up to
Council to determine what to do with that information and some of the issues it could bring.
Councilor Wylie said she hoped they would have a range of comparables.
Mr. Lawson said they were required to have a certain number of comparators. The private sector
data would be sectioned into specific jobs.
City of Springfield
Council Work Session Minutes
December 1,2008
Page 5
Councilor Wylie said it was helpful to see what other people made in other markets. She noted
the comment that the current system was inflexible. She assumed this new information would
build a better system.
Mr. Spiry said when the system was put into place, it was probably right for the City at that time,
but it didn't change and adapt. This time, they were looking at a system that was state of the art,
determining how we could maintain the system and review it in a certain number of years.
Councilor Wylie said when staff presents the new system it would be helpful if they gave a
couple of examples of how things were in the old system, and what could be done with the new
system in those same circumstances.
Mr. Lawson said many of the current classifications existed because someone was trying to do
something regarding a pay issue. The new system had a way to deal with that.
Councilor Woodrow said this would standardize a lot of job descriptions. He asked if there
would be a procedure in the new system to maintain standardization to avoid turning into 115
classifications.
Mr. Spiry said this system was set up to keep that from happening and was part of the scope of
work required for this project. Staff would need to manage the system.
Councilor Lundberg asked Mr. Lawson to describe some of the changes that would occur once
the class and comp study was done in terms of hiring, retention and recruitment.
Councilor Ballew also asked what they would do for people in current positions that should be in
a lower classification.
Mr. Lawson said they would identify the classifications based on: the information available to
them, and then determine their new classification, either higher or lower. The issue was what to
do regarding the compensation. Most organizations would freeze an employee's salary until their
salary range caught up to their current pay. If an employee was currently paid at a level less than
they should, they would identify what it would cost to bring them up to that accurate range. He
gave an example. With a broader classification and pay structure, there was increased flexibility
for the hiring manager. The negative was that they could hire someone at a level higher than
people that had been here longer. They tried to tell people that this was a new system, with some
adjustments regarding they pay. What employees would gain was the room to grow. Most
agencies couldn't afford to move someone up in range. Managers would have to accept the
responsibility for managing the system. Under the current model, the manager would go to HR to
try to get a reclassification for an employee. With the new system, if it was a pay issue, the
manager would have to pay within the pay system, so there was a degree of managerial
responsibility in that area.
Mr. Spiry said implementation, taking the current people and moving them into the new system,
would happen over a period of time. They would also be working with the unions on that aspect.
Councilor Pishioneri asked about the jail staff once it was opened. He asked ifthere were plans
for comparables for the staff for the jail.
City of Springfield
Council Work Session Minutes
December 1, 2008
Page 6
Police Chief Smith said they had looked at Linn County, Benton County, Douglas County,
Jackson County, and Coos County and one other. In looking at the average, Springfield was
slightly higher than the average.
Mr. Spiry said the challenge was looking for systems that were not using sworn officers for jail
operations. Staff would keep Councilor Pishioneri informed on that process.
Mayor Leiken asked what was included in the compensation.
Mr. Lawson said wages, insured benefits (health, life, etc.), paid time off, vacation, holidays,
retirement contributions, and pension systems.
Mayor Leiken said he would caution them about using comparatives from the private sector.
Staff at the City had given up the opportunity to earn much more in the private sector. He noted
the incentives and other compensations in the private sector. He discussed the discrepancies that
could occur when making wage comparisons between public and private because of those extra
compensations. He would prefer staff look at public sector municipalities for comparables.
Mr. Lawson said if they were able to get the numbers, they would separate the private and public
information. He asked if the. general parameters in the public sector market were acceptable to
Council.
Mayor Leiken said he was pleased and felt this was the way to go. For the future of Springfield,
this was a good opportunity. He appreciated that Springfield had been fortunate with employees
who had chosen to make their career here at the City.
Council agreed with the recommendation as outlined in the Agenda packet.
Councilor Pishioneri said he liked what they were doing.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned 6:58 pm.
Minutes Recorder - Amy Sowa
Attest:
Am~~::tftrnn-
City Recorder