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INCREASING PAYROLL IN VICTORIA
BY AROUND $3,100 PER MONTH
On May 11th, Council approved back- pay to City of Victoria employees in pay equity compensation.
According to City Administrator Dave Urbia, total payroll for all fulltime city staff for 2006 was projected to be $907,380 - base pay only, not including benefits. With the program approved on May 11th, the new total payroll, not including benefits, will be $944,999.
Rod Kelsey, a consultant with Riley, Dettman, and Kelsey, was hired to con-duct a classification and compensation study that compared City of Victoria salaries with those of similar communi-ties.
The project began with the rec-ommendation of Administrator Urbia, who is filling the position of Steve Sarvi who is serving time in Iraq at this time. "I noted when I first came here," said Dave, "issues with our compensation system and recommended to the city council to go this route."
There are currently 20 full-time City of Victoria employees.
City employees will receive a lump sum payment at this time to reflect the retroactive increase; salary adjustments will be made to the regular paychecks through the rest of 2006. There are cur-rently 20 full-time City of Victoria em-ployees, according to Finance Director Jylan Johnson.
"My purpose was to set up a classifi-cation compensation for Victoria," said Mr. Kelsey. "You cannot commit future councils to this. It's a framework."
He said that city employees filled out questionnaires in February and began evaluations in March, that he submitted information to the city administrator in April and performed a pay equity test.
"Pay equity is required by the State of Minnesota," he said. "It is a snapshot right now. One of my judgments was in seeing natural break patterns and deter-mining grades. Additional grades may be put in as you expand."
He said that the pay scales of eleven cities were chosen to make comparisons with Victoria: Albertville, Andover, Carver, Champlin, Cologne, Hugo, Lino Lakes, Medina, Rogers, St. Michael, and Waconia. "There was some disagreement because I did not include Chanhassen and Chaska," he said, adding that as Victoria grows maybe such comparisons could be made.
"You have base pay plus benefits," he said. "Some benefits are mandated, some are not. You look at the total pay picture, the total compensation plan. Nobody organizes and delivers their services in exactly the same way. This will continue to be a performance plan. The big ele-phant right now is medical costs."
Mr. Kelsey referred to some city em-ployee positions as "mushy," explaining that different responsibilities are often hung on a Building Official or a City Clerk, for example. "Pay equity depends on what their assignments are," he said.
Regarding the much used "cost of liv-ing" phrase, he said, "I prefer 'pay adjust-ment' rather than 'cost of living.' It should never be this automatic change in a pay structure, in my opinion. I don't be-lieve that figure affects everybody in the same way."
"And there's nothing fringe about benefits anymore," he said. "They're costly. It's my view that no employer has an obligation to maintain an employee's lifestyle. It is not the primary driver."
"Compensation is based on work plans and work achievements," he contin-ued. "Cost of living is not a primary driver. It should be, in my view, a way secondary consideration. Non-performers have to improve their performance or choose another spot."
Dave Urbia said he created a spreadsheet and placed each full time position in the City of Victoria in the next higher step of pay. "There is budget concern," he said. "Staff will try hard to make it work ... It'll cost us a little bit but we'll have it right in the long run."
VICTORIA OPPOSES BIGGER TRUCKS
ON STATE, COUNTY, AND LOCAL ROADS
Councilmembers adopted a resolution on May 11th opposing any increases in truck sizes or weights in Minnesota. Russ Brooks of the Minnesota Alliance for Safe Highways spoke on behalf of the resolu-tion.
"We are concerned about the size and increase in semi-trailers," he stated. "There is a proposal to increase the weights on state, local, and county roads, but not interstate roads. We're concerned about damage to secondary roads. Mov-ing traffic onto secondary roads brings more fatalities. Trucks do a greater a-mount of damage to secondary roads and bridges. MnDOT doesn't have the money to pay for roads today but is looking at raising weights. The average truck pays $5,000 in taxes every year but they cause $7,000 in damage ever year. I'm present-ing a sample resolution for you tonight."
Commented Mayor Jerry Bohn about MnDOT's move to increase truck weights on our roads, "You do wonder what their logic is."
Victoria councilmembers voted 5-0 to oppose increases in the sizes or weights of trucks on Minnesota roads, and to support the position of the Minnesota Alliance for Safe Highways.
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