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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, September 9, 2013 Page 23 may not qualify for merit pay. However, Ms. Bacon advised that directors usually waited until December to determine which employees were their "rising stars," with the supervisor then advising the Department Head, who advised her, and she advised the City Manager, who advised the Finance Director. Ms. Bacon advised that the rationale for directors to use that merit incentive were where the incon- sistencies came in, with one Department Head possibly recommending one em- ployee, and another recommendation not coming from another Department Head for the same type of achievement. At the request of Councilmember Willmus, Mr. Trudgeon and Mr. Miller con- firmed that, as noted on page 3 of the RCA, the City had a 1% COLA in 2012, and a 2%COLA in 2013. Addressing the trend from January 1, 2012 to July of 2013, at 3%, Councilmem- ber Willmus noted that this would track with CPI data from his personal research; and if the 3.26%increase went forward for 2014, it would actually put the City on par with inflation. Therefore, Councilmember Willmus questioned why the City would need to include another 2%increase for COLA. Mayor Roe clarified that a different CPI number was shown in the RCA for 2013, approximately 3.6% from 2012 to 2013; and questioned staff if there was a basis for the number provided in the packet as opposed to the number referenced by Councilmember Willmus. Finance Director Miller clarified that the 2013 figure provided by staff was based on current trending, and the local inflation index for Minneapolis/St. Paul over the first six (6) months of 2013, all extrapolated over that six (6) month period, and then two (2) times inflation for the first six (6) months with the assumption that would continue to track for the remainder of 2013. Councilmember Willmus noted that his figure from January through July tracked with Mr. Miller's comments at 3.06%. Therefore, Councilmember Willmus sug- gested using the 2014 figure would allow the City to keep pace, but staff was ad- vocating for 5.26%total. Mr. Trudgeon clarified that the differential isn't over two (2) years, but over a pe- riod of ten (10) years; and roughly coincides with the original compensation study. Mr. Trudgeon advised that the big question was how to get caught up long-term. Councilmember Willmus opined that, if using the CPI as the measuring stick, the City has kept pace. Mayor Roe concurred that this was true in the very short-term, but not long-term over the ten (10) year period.