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HARLINGEN — Some city employees might be getting bigger paychecks.
City officials are considering boosting some employees’ salaries based on a consulting firm’s study recommending about a third of staff get about five percent salary hikes.
At City Hall, City Manager Gabriel Gonzalez said he’s planning to propose city commissioners consider funding some pay raises following this summer’s budget workshops.
“We will be making a recommendation but after we have completed the budget,” he stated.
The cost of increasing about a third of the staff’s pay could run at least about $487,460, the study showed.
Most jobs paying below market
Late last month, Evergreen Solutions, a Tallahassee, Fla., consulting firm, presented commissioners with the findings of a city-funded study comparing employee pay and staffing with those of regional like-sized cities.
The study whose data was collected last September focused on 341 City Hall employees while recommending officials consider about a third of the staff for pay hikes.
Employees working as part of City Hall’s administrative support staff are among those drawing salaries ranking below those of comparably sized cities, the study found.
“The majority of your positions were at or below market position,” Stasey Whichel, project manager with Evergreen Solutions, told commissioners during a May 25 workshop. “You had a few that were above market or up to 10 percent above market. There were only three or four, though. The city is behind the market at the minimums of the pay scale but then slightly improves its competitive position at the mid-point and maximum due to the city’s average salary range compared to peers. Your salary ranges typically fall within best practices — 50 percent to 70 percent. The majority of your employees’ salaries were within 10 percent of the model range.”
Recommending 4.9 percent hikes
The study recommended officials consider boosting 133 employees’ salaries by an average of $3,665, or 4.9 percent.
Now, the city’s new minimum starting salary stands at $10 an hour, generating incomes of $20,880.
The study recommends boosting the minimum salary to $24,500.
45 percent ‘somewhat satisfied’
At City Hall, she found 45 percent of employees were “somewhat satisfied” with their salaries while 25 percent were “not satisfied,” Whichel told commissioners.
During interviews with groups of employees, she found some expressed concern the city’s hiring new workers at salaries comparable to their pay, she said.
“Some people are feeling like they’ve been here for a certain number of years — people are hired on at very similar salaries so there’s no separation in that,” she told commissioners.
Raises falling short
While the city’s benefits package stacks up to those of comparably sized cities, some employees said their raises don’t cover cost of living increases, Whichel said.
“There was a concern that benefit and costs increase and raises cover the cost of benefits but nothing in addition to,” she said.
Meanwhile, many comparably sized cities offered employees more holidays and paid leave, she said.
Call for job growth
Whichel also said some employees said their jobs didn’t allow development.
“There were also requests for additional job growth,” she said. “People want to continue their careers here with the city and they want to see more growth within their chosen fields. They would like to see more growth potential.”
Updating job descriptions
The study recommended officials update job descriptions.
“Some of the dissatisfaction concerns that people brought up was they feel like their descriptions need to be updated,” she said. “Jobs evolve over the years and those descriptions didn’t necessarily reflect what they’re doing now so they want that to be revisited.”
Turnover
Whichel said the city’s dealing with higher job turnover in positions including those of heavy equipment operators, solid waste drivers and mechanics.
“You had a fair bit of turnover in the last four or five years,” she said.
Meanwhile, the city’s information technology, public works and parks and recreation departments’ staffing levels are lower than many of those in comparably sized cities, she said.
Background
Last year, commissioners boosted the city’s minimum hourly wage ranging from $8 to $9 to $10 while funding about $1.2 million to cover employee pay increases.
About a year ago, Mayor Norma Sepulveda proposed the city conduct the study to help determine proper staffing levels and fair employee pay.
The consultants’ report marks the city’s first pay study since 2007.
