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Regular City Council Meeting Monday,April 17,2023 Page 7 respective to the market. These are going to have to be graded so that similarly scored positions are paid similarly with respect to the market. But where Abdo sees challenges right now, would be if there is a very high demand IT position, where there is a big supply shortage in the market for that position. If it is scored similarly to another position, it is scored similarly but there are more people so the market is lower, someone is either going to be paid above the market or below the market. So when looking at the City's desired position in the market, they are not looking by work position. They are looking at a whole and average out those variances. She asked where the Council would like to put themselves. She wondered would the Council want to be closer to the average and what that means for recruiting and retention. She also wondered if the City would be more of a destination city and if that is the goal the Council, it would likely want to consider having step one the entry level, minimum pay, and may want that to be above the minimum market average because the City is trying to attract talent from somewhere else. The City may need to be a little more competitive than the market to get them in the door without having to negotiate them at step four just to get them in. She gave an example of this to the City Council. Councilmember Strahan wondered if Abdo took into consideration turnover rates or vacancy rates when making those decisions. She stated when it came down to her, the City does want to be competitive but then if there is indication of a twenty percent increase in the entry level rate, that is a huge budget impact. Ms. Davis explained to keep in mind the Council said the City would like to be at the upper quartile of the average so that is not twenty-five percent in pay increases. It means if the range is ten dollars an hour and there is a ten percent increase to the range, even if the position is twenty to thirty dollars an hour, it would usually be only a couple of dollars more. Ms. Olson gave an example of an increase in pay range if the City were to raise the minimum base. She reviewed the turnover rate with the City Council. Councilmember Etten asked what it is that the City Council being asked to set because he was unclear what the City Council is supposed to do. Mr. Trudgeon explained what is being discussed now is what does the City want to be as an organization and the pay philosophy for the overall market,not looking at the individual ones. He indicated the City needs to land on a number,whatever that number may be, and not necessarily one hundred percent. Then, from there, they will have an idea within the compensation plan so the Council can make decisions. He thought what the City is trying to do is to hit that overarching philosophy; what is the goal that the City wants to try to hit and then the City can start to look at individual job and decide what the starting pay rate should be and still have a maximum range.