CC_Minutes_2013_0909 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Regular City Council Meeting Monday, September 9, 2013 Page 22 gated firefighter numbers, with them needing to be added into the equation in up- dated figures. At the request of Councilmember McGehee, Mr. Trudgeon advised that Human Resources Manager Eldona Bacon currently and internally tracked and weekly re- ported to him open positions and reasons for those openings, number of appli- cants, and other information. Councilmember McGehee requested that the infor- mation be shared with Councilmembers as an annual summary as they made deci- sions on employee adjustments during the budget process. Councilmember McGehee spoke in support of the Competitive Plan, as she had supported it from the beginning of these discussions. At the request of Councilmember Etten, Ms. Bacon advised that annual merit pay allotments generally did get spent; and if she had previously led the City Council to believe they were not being used, apologized for that misconception. Ms. Ba- con addressed the inconsistency portion, suggesting that if the merit pay was con- tinued going forward, those inconsistencies (e.g. how dollars were utilized, vary- ing personalities of supervisors and Department Heads) needed to be addressed. Mr. Trudgeon clarified that it appears that approximately $30,000 was spent an- nually on the merit pay compensation program if fully implemented. However, Mr. Trudgeon advised that the number is actually much larger than $30,000, as the merit pay program was not being implemented to its fullest extent or as it was originally designed, primarily due to budgetary pressures. At the request of Mayor Roe, Mr. Trudgeon clarified that the merit pay program was not automatic. Some confusion was expressed by Councilmembers regarding anticipated spend- ing in 2013, as well as future years; with some believing the proposed $30,000 re- duction in merit pay was going to be used to offset costs of the compensation plan. Councilmember Etten opined that if the merit pay program was going to continue to be used, a future large discussion was needed on how it was used and the train- ing needed to implement it effectively. Councilmember Etten thanked Ms. Bacon for being very open about the inconsistencies; and questioned if information was readily available on how, when, or if the merit pay program was currently used. While not being able to include a ten (10) year review for Councilmembers to ref- erence, Ms. Bacon advised that it had been used, and costs for implementation range between $25,000 and $30,000. Ms. Bacon advised that the full amount had not yet been utilized this year. Ms. Bacon advised that each director is typically allotted a certain amount of dollars per department annually for those who may or