Mallory Herrmann
citydesk@lstribune.net

City staff gave a progress report on the compensation plan update at the city council’s Oct. 16 meeting. Anita Dickey, director of human services, and Steve Marsh, chief technology officer, said that they’ve Dickey said that the structure committee had gotten behind on schedule by a couple of weeks but that they’re catching up by having the second committee start earlier than initially planned.

The first committee is primarily comprised of management employees to create a new pay classification system for the city’s core general positions. The second committee includes at least one individual from every department to ensure a comprehensive plan.

The compensation plan is being updated after a previous study was largely perceived as having errors and being based on inaccurate or incomplete data. The two committees were created to ensure increased communication, updated job descriptions and in-depth analysis. A third committee is going to be created to support ongoing engagement.

The compensation updates are planned to bring city employees’ pay in line with market standards. While Steve Arbo, city manager, said that the city knows they won’t have funding available to immediately make the necessary corrections – but the city will have some direction for how to make adjustments moving forward.

Dickey also stressed that the review was not an evaluation of staff experience, but rather an analysis of the position itself.