Staff is recommending that the City Council adopt the attached resolution to make changes to the Authorized Position List and Salary Schedule as shown in the details below.

Annually as part of the budget adoption process the City Council authorizes the number of authorized positions, position title and the salary range for each job title within the City.  When changes are to be made in either the position count, job title or salary range they are to be brought to the City Council for approval.

With the adoption of the budget and the identification of authorized positions for the coming year, certain positions have been identified as needing to be retitled or repurposed.  These positions and the related reasoning for making changes are outlined follows:

General Fund

•  Reduce one (1) Management Assistant to the City Manager and replace with one (1) Management Analyst II – Upon review of this position it has been determined that the duties of the Management Assist to the City Manager are more closely aligned with the existing Management Analyst II.  This reclassification will allow the position to be utilized across a broader range of projects within the City.  There is no fiscal impact to this reclass as the two positions have the same pay scale.  This position is in the Management unit.

• Reduce one (1) Digital Marketing Specialist and replace with one (1) newly created Communications Coordinator – The Digital Marketing Specialist was vacated in 2018. Since that time the position requirements have changed to include a broader marketing and communication need.  The retitling of this position along with some minor job description changes will allow the City more flexibility in hiring the best person for the job.  There is no fiscal impact as this retitled positions has the same pay scale.  This position is in the SEIU unit.

• Reduce one (1) Senior Planner and replace with one (1) Associate Planner – The Senior Planner position was vacated in the late spring of 2019.  Hiring an Associate Planner makes sense in light of an analysis of department needs along with recognition of the hiring pool.  This change will reduce payroll expenses to the General Fund by approximately $23,500 per year.  This position is in the Professional unit.

• Reduce one (1) Web Manager and replace with one (1) newly created Web and Database Administrator – The needs of a Web Manager, which was vacated in 2018, have changed.  The original position was heavily involved in creating the new City website.  Now that the site is complete, the requirements for this position have been reduced to half-time.   Transferring this position to the IT department allows for IT to take over the maintenance and monitoring of the web site and also to utilize this position to manage the City’s growing databases as well.  Given the increasing demands in the IT department this new position will help to reduce the work load of the department.  There is no fiscal impact to this reclassification as the two positions have the same pay scale.  This action will transfer the position from the Management unit to the Professional unit.

• Reduce one (1) Deputy City Clerk and replace with one (1) newly created Administrative Specialist - Confidential - In late 2018 the Deputy City Clerk was promoted to the position of Management Assistant to the City Manager (referenced above).  The intent at that time was to create an Administrative Specialist to assist the City Manager and the City Clerk.  Due to looming budget constraints the position was put on hold.  Now that the budget is resolved, the need for an individual to support a variety of duties in the City Manager’s office has become pressing.  There is no fiscal impact to this reclass as the two positions have the same pay scale.  This action would move the position from the professional unit to a soon to be created confidential unit upon formation of the confidential unit.

• Reduce two (2) Public Service Officer I (PSO) and add two (2) Public Service Office II positions – Currently the City has authorized two PSO I and one PSO II positions.  The position of PSO is a multi-faceted position that serves both the community and acts as a resource for the patrol division.  A review of the PSO I positions has found that they are continually working out of class as the demands for duties of the PSO II position are more than one position can handle.  Per the POA MOU as a result of working out of class they are currently being paid acting pay of 5%.  The out of class pay is intended for temporary assignments and not as a long term solution.  An analysis of changing the two PSO I positions to PSO II positions has an overall annual fiscal impact of $4,800 to the General Fund for both positions when adjusted for the 5% acting pay.  These positions are in the POA unit.

• Reduce one (1) Human Resources Director and add one (1) Human Resource Manager – With the passing of the Human Resources Director, Bonnie Roland Williams the City has determined that the best path forward at this time is to hire a Human Resources Manager.  This is the process that was utilized in the last recruitment for Bonnie after which she was eventually promoted to Director a couple of years later. The savings from this action will be $73,000 annually to the General Fund.  This position will initially be part of the Management unit, however at a later time the City may consider transferring this position into a confidential unit once it is formed.

• Add one (1) System Analyst – For quite a number of years the City has relied upon contract services to supplement the IT Departments increasing work load.  As a short term measure this is a reasonable method for balancing adding new employee’s vs temporary help to get caught up on heavy workloads.  As the IT function continues to expand with the increasing demands of technology what was once planned as temporary contract assistance has evolved into a permanently budgeted full time contract help.  For the last three years the City has been paying $164,000 per year for a full time contract IT services.  The cost to replace these services with a full time City employee is $185,000 at Step 5.  In light of the significant needs of the department, along with the benefits of having a full time reliable and responsible employee that can retain historical knowledge, it makes sense to replace this augmentation with a full time City employee.  The wage scale in the Professional Unit would range from $106,249 to $129,146 annually before benefits.  As this employee would be hired at step 1 or 2 the annual cost to the General Fund would initially be break even and then rising to $21,000 at step 5 after 3 years. 

The impact to the General Fund for the above changes is a $70,700 savings.

Transit Fund

• Reduce one (1) Transit Planner replace with one (1) Transit Planner II, also, creating the positions Transit Planner I, Transit Planner II and Transit Planner III of which there will only be one (1) position filled at any given time.  The City has had difficulty filling the Transit Planner Position.  Many cities have three levels of planners (I, II and III).  This allows for the City to conduct a recruitment by casting a wider net for applicants and then filling one of the three levels based on the applicant pool.  It also allows the City to hire an entry level person (which is often easier to recruit) and then to provide a series of steps for advancement over time. It is anticipated that a recruitment will produce a level I or II candidate which will save the City between $6,500 and $22,000 to the transit funds annually. These positions are in the Professional unit.

Staff have met and conferred with the respective bargaining units.  All units have agreed to the changes above.

The sum of the above changes are expected to save the General Fund $70,700 and save the Transit Funds $22,000 annually.

Staff recommends that the City Council adopt a resolution updating the authorized position list and salary schedule to reflect changes in positions.