Nora Grace-Flood photo
Majority Leader Furlow (center) at Monday's Board of Alders meeting.
The city’s top employees are set to make more money and hopefully see more job competition — now that the Board of Alders has approved salary range bumps and automatic cost of living adjustments for department heads, coordinators, and managers not covered by public-sector unions.
The Board of Alders voted unanimously during its meeting Monday night to approve revisions to the “Executive Management & Confidential Employees Personnel and Procedures Manual” for the first time in more than a decade.
That means city employees in executive positions will receive increased salary ranges and annual cost of living adjustments allowing automatic pay jumps. Read about that in more detail here and here.
Each department head’s specific salary will still have to be set and approved each year as part of the city budget process. Monday’s vote means that department heads and other executive employees are now eligible for higher salaries thanks to the increases in the manual-set pay ranges.
The Elicker administration proposed those procedural edits, among others, after it came to light that the manual had not been updated since 2011.
In addition to rewriting the manual to be general-neutral, the alders sought to correct the fact that some department heads were earning less than their staff, whose unions had negotiated annual raises into their contracts, and to draw more interest from potential hires towards top job positions that remain empty.
At Monday’s full Board of Alders meeting, Finance Committee Chair and Westville Alder Adam Marchand proposed one additional change to the manual prior to making a motion to approve a host of edits.
He pointed to one paragraph added to the booklet which states that employees governed by the handbook are eligible to receive a wage increase of the same minimum percentage adopted by those represented by Local 3144, the union which represents other “management” employees like city planners, building inspectors, and legal assistants, as of July 1, 2024.
The Board of Alders voted unanimously in favor of Marchand’s idea to specify the percentage — 3 percent — which had already been negotiated by 3144 in their latest contract extending until 2026.
That way, Marchand said, the administration will have to return to the Board of Alders for approval before raising that salary percentage increase any further.
“This amended manual also incorporates new wage ranges that align with pay rates published in the current budget and includes annual increases that reflect those negotiated by Local 3144, the management and professional employees’ union for the City,” Marchand said in favor of the amended document. “These changes should help the City’s efforts to fill vacant positions and to hire highly qualified personnel into these vital roles.”
• Increasing the salary range for “key employees” from $100,000-$169,600 to $116,750-$198,008. Examples of city employees in that category include police chief (approved FY24 salary: $173,000), fire chief ($173,000), and health director ($148,000).
• Increasing the salary range for “E9” employees from $73,560-$132,920 to $85,881-$155,184. Examples of city employees in that category include city librarian ($145,000), youth & rec director ($126,000), and building official ($122,500).
• Increasing the salary range for “E5” employees from $60,668-$105,063 to $70,830-$122,661. Examples of city employees in that category include director of communications ($94,500), personnel director ($103,000), and elderly services director ($94,500).
• Creating a new salary range, dubbed “E10,” which would be from $105,000 to $165,000. That would apply to such positions as chief administrator officer ($140,000), community services administrator ($135,000), economic development administrator ($135,000), and chief of staff ($135,000).
Glad we’re making these roles more financially sustainable. I hope to the City continue to shore up unsigned contracts and bargaining agreements (paraprofessionals, police, presumably there are others) so we can continue to make all jobs sustainable for the long term.