City adopts new wage scale
By Joey Berlin
Originally published 01:05 p.m., March 20, 2008
Updated 01:05 p.m., March 20, 2008
It won’t go into effect yet, but the city commission has adopted new wage scales for city employees.
Commissioners voted Wednesday night to approve the wage classifications and pay scales recommended by Waters Consulting Group, which performed a study on city wages and presented the results to the commission earlier this month. The new salary ranges won’t go into effect until the city commission adopts a new compensation plan, which may not happen for some time. City staff hopes to have a first draft of the compensation plan ready in April.
Waters found that for the jobs it examined, the city paid incumbent average base salaries 10.5 percent below market value as compared to other markets in the region, and average midpoint salaries 11.5 percent below market value.
In Waters’ recommended classifications adopted Wednesday, job titles are grouped into “grades,” which are each identified by a three-digit number. For example, Grade 115 includes three job titles: chief of police, fire chief and assistant city manager. Those positions would carry a minimum salary of $74,273, a midpoint salary of $90,762, and a maximum salary of $111,411.
During discussion Wednesday, Commissioner Bob Agler requested an amendment be added to the resolution to clarify that the new wages wouldn’t go into effect until the city comes up with a funding plan and phase-in schedule, which are to be included in the new compensation plan.
“I am supportive of the wage scale that we’re adopting here,” Agler said, “but we’re saying it’s going to be effective. And yet, if we can’t fully implement it — I mean, this (resolution) implies that it will be fully implemented when a new compensation plan is adopted, without this (amendment).
“... It’s just a clarification that yes, we’re adopting it, we’re supportive of it, but it may take longer to implement than just May, or whenever it is that we want to try and implement it, that there’s got to be funding in order to implement it.”
Upon further discussion, other commissioners and City Attorney Blaise Plummer seemed to believe that Agler’s clarifying amendment probably wasn’t needed. Plummer said the resolution was only saying the city believed “that these were the appropriate wage ranges for these categories of occupations. ... Literally, in any position, there’s no commitment that they’re going to stay the same, that they’re going to increase, that they’re going to decrease.”
Even so, commissioners voted 3-1, with Mayor Julie Johnson dissenting, to go with Agler’s suggestion and include the amendment. They then voted to adopt the salary classifications by a 4-0 vote.
City Manager Matt Zimmerman said the amendment was a good reminder that everything the commission does is dependent on the amount of funding available to it. He said he didn’t think either the commission or senior management could know when the new pay plan would be implemented.
“The city commission has made it very clear to me several times that this may be a multi-budget year process to get full implementation,” he said. “So we don’t know yet.”
Commissioner Kevin Nelson was absent from Wednesday’s meeting.
In other activity Wednesday, commissioners:
• Awarded to Mitchell-Markowitz Construction an office and locker room remodeling project for the Lee Beran Recreation Center for the low bid of $137,856, with project authorization of up to $190,000 approved. Bonds for the project will be paid back through rec center leases, meaning the city will not end up spending any money on the project.
• Awarded to Musselman and Hall Contractors the city’s 2008 crack and slurry seal project for the low bid of $149,424.60. Purchasing Agent Tim Frevert said the project bid barely came in under budget.
• Approved the purchase of a John Deere 710J backhoe loader from Murphy Equipment in Topeka for a cost of $147,900. The machine is used to load trash at the transfer station. The city’s current loader, a 2002 John Deere 710D model, exceeded its warranty by hours used last August.
• Approved a request to close parking on the first Saturday of each month from April through September in the 10-100 blocks of Commercial Street from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The move will allow car clubs to back into parking stalls without committing city violations during scheduled “Cruise Nights” during those months.
• Authorized Johnson to sign three proclamations: One declaring March as Parkinson’s Disease Awareness Month, another declaring the same month as American Red Cross Month, and a third measure declaring April as Month of the Young Child. The last proclamation was signed on behalf of the Lyon County Early Childhood Task Force, which will begin its Month of the Young Child events on March 29.
dhcc66 (anonymous) says...
ok, clarify what "some time" means for implementation of the new wage scales.....it sounds like agler and the rest just want to stall having to give the city employees raises that they have been lacking for what....5 to 8 years now? STOP THE SPECIAL PROJECTS....FUND WHAT IT COST TO RUN THE CITY..then build playgrounds and slurry seal the streets you fixed two years ago...
how many times to the commissioners have to be told? and why are we replacing a 6 year old backhoe??? i keep my car well past warranty. doesn't the city have mechanics to work on things like that? geez...waste waste waste waste
March 20, 2008 at 3:03 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
admireed (anonymous) says...
Local economics may dictate we start at the bottom of the bracket. No reflection of what we want to do. It is what we can afford to do. Taxpayer interests come 1st
March 20, 2008 at 8:47 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
wtrdog (anonymous) says...
Plummer said "the resolution was only saying the city believed “that these were the appropriate wage ranges for these categories of occupations. ... Literally, in any position, there’s no commitment that they’re going to stay the same, that they’re going to increase, that they’re going to decrease.”
I think this pretty much sums it up, "no commitment".
Truth is that most people don't realize how understaffed public works is. The trend of cutting positions when someone is lost has left us with skeleton crews at best. Every time they cut a position, those of us who are left work harder to accomplish the same job with absolutely no incentives.
There are five people in the entire street dept, Including the foreman.
These are the guys that get trash talked when the snow removal isn't fast enough, Or there are to many potholes on the streets.
There are 5 people on the water crew including the foreman. These are the guys that are charged with keeping a 130 year old (core) water system delivering water to all the citizens, Businesses etc.
We have an astounding two people in the sewer dept. Yes, That is two. They are to maintain the entire sewer system for the city; sanitary mains, Storm, Lift Stations etc for the entire city.
At some point Sewer & Water departments were combined to form the "underground utility" dept. While this looks great on paper, It is illogical. Such a combination would work if the utility systems in the city were up to par, Meaning there were fewer breakages, Lead service lines, Out of date fire hydrants, Collapsed and/or problematic sanitary sewers, Badly deteriorating & problematic storm sewer system etc etc. What this all means is both departments are typically to busy & stretched to thin to help one another.
Pats on the back are as nonexistent, or inconsistent at best. Raises have been froze for far to long with no light at the end of tunnel. There have been talks about the moral issue, But it has remained to this point, Talks. Most of the workers are very skilled in their areas, Quite a few with trade skill backgrounds. I know there are more than a few that are waiting the outcome of the wage survey. Some are optimistic, But the majority feel that this will be another disappointment.
My personal opinion is that it is aggravating to continue to read articles & hear requests to beautify something or complaints of services. I feel that not only are we underpaid, But also under appreciated by most.
March 20, 2008 at 9:33 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
landofoz (anonymous) says...
What is funny to me is how they are always telling everyone to shop here to keep money in the community. They run those goofy commercials on the radio that tell you to shop emporia first, then they complain when everyone goes to Topeka or KC to do their shopping. Looks like the city does the exact same thing they need a new backhoe, instead of going to Deere Trail (or whatever the new name is) they go out of town and spend $150,000 in Topeka to buy one. Since they complain so much about citizens taking their business out of town maybe the city government should start leading by example. But I guess they are smart also, who wants to get ripped off buying something here when you can get twice the selection and a way better price elsewhere by going to a larger city. .
March 21, 2008 at 8:20 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Hillbilly (anonymous) says...
So true landofoz, and NOW Zimmerman is wanting to get AmTrack to stop in Emporia so that people can ride to Wichita or Kansas City!!!!!! How many sales in Emporia are going to be made in other cities that could of been possibly made here in Emporia. Zimmerman needs to think before he talks about feel good things
And yes the backhoe,, did the city buy it new?? and how many hours are actually on it, and it is kept inside at night and mostly during the day, and the tires dont go flat, wow, maybe it smells.
March 21, 2008 at 9:03 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
dhcc66 (anonymous) says...
hey admireed....i agree, taxpayers should be VERY concerned. remember, you get what you pay for. if you pay for "low bid" every time, then you get the cheapest thing money can buy.
do you really want that coming to your house to put out your fire? or the cheapest piece of medic equipment to work on your loved ones?
how about if they buy the cheapest police cars(which it appears they already do). are they going to work when you need somebody pulled out of your house at 4am?
the water and sewer departments get bashed constantly for not fixing things quickly enough...maybe that it what "low bid" gets you. maybe it's not the employees, maybe it's the lack of them? or the lack of good equipment to get the job done correctly.
if the city wants to continuously underpay their employees, and take the absolute lowest bid on anything no matter what that means, then brace yourselves. no wonder nobody wants to work here, or stay here, or buy here. the city is a bunch of tightwads who only worry about the bottom dollar...and oh yes...how pretty we look spending that bottom dollar
admireed...maybe if we start at the bottom, and fund the city infrastructure instead of figuring out what corner we can plant flowers on, trying to find ways to make the interstate entrances prettier, or building another clock tower...maybe then the taxpayer will get what they deserve...good service from fairly paid well equipped employees of a city that used to be one of the best and proudest places to live in kansas....it all starts at the bottom and until they fund it that way...the citizens will continue to get "low bid"
March 21, 2008 at 9:49 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
dhcc66 (anonymous) says...
would it suprise you to know that emporia's taxes are amongst the lowest in the state when it comes to sales tax of cities our size?? from what i remember during one of the budget meetings last year, zimmerman told us that we could raise the sales tax a penny and still be in the middle....
as far as property taxes, i would say i can't remember what was put out there, although i think it was lopsided toward the upper end because of the mill levy
March 24, 2008 at 3:29 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
boomer46 (anonymous) says...
Does the city take the "lowest bid" or the "lowest and best bid"? The lowest bid is not always the best bid. The cities I have worked for always indicated "lowest and best bid" on their bid specs and awards.
March 24, 2008 at 5:55 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
emporian (anonymous) says...
Lowest bid period.
March 24, 2008 at 8:45 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
boomer46 (anonymous) says...
Sounds like the bid selection procedures need to be looked at. Changes need to be made to make sure the lowest bid is indeed the best bid for the project/item. Doesn't take someone with a Ph.D. to know that the lowest bid can sometimes come back to haunt you. Now that I think about it, the Fire Station must have been given to the lowest bidder when it was built, look at what the city is dealing with now. Guess it wasn't the best bid!
March 24, 2008 at 9:47 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
dhcc66 (anonymous) says...
the bottom dollar is all that matters to the commission. watch some of their sessions and you'll see that this is true. it doesn't matter who says what about what works best or what may be the best route to go for a project. they want to know why the other (possibly better) bids are higher and why they can't come down.
when dealing with vehicles, it's usually "low bid" or "shop emporia first" no matter what the price. lately, it's a mix of the two, eg the tractor from the last commission meeting purchased out of town.
somebody needs to remind the commission that paying a little more up front for something that is better built, better planned, or just plain better, may save them a ton of headaches or a wallet full of money down the road.
March 25, 2008 at 6:34 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
boomer46 (anonymous) says...
Dhcc66
1) I have watched some of the commission meetings and watched while the commissioners tear apart staff members and ask questions that are way out of line and unprofessional - in my opinion. It makes me sad when I see how the city staff is being demeaned by the commissioners. It really doesn't make for good moral when you see how little the commissioners think of city staff. They (commissioners) are obviously feeling their power rather than supporting the people that do all the work with low wages. What's wrong with making the employees feel good about working for the city?
2) There are some things that can't be purchased by low ball bidding. Does anyone really check these bids out to make sure they are submitted by true professionals? Or, doesn't it really matter? Something is really wrong here!
March 25, 2008 at 9:20 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )