Item 4C..
AGENDA ITEM #4C
FEBRUARY 9, 2004
CITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH
CITY COMMISSION MEETING
STAFF REPORT
AGENDA ITEM: One-Time Pay Adjustment for Police Officers
SUBMITTED BY: George Foster, Human Resource Manager
DATE: February 3, 2004
BACKGROUND: On January 12, 2004, the City Commission discussed, and approved,
various pay adjustments for Police Officers as proposed by the Chief
of Police David Thompson. During these discussions, information
was requested as to what the cost would be to provide a "one-time"
pay increase to Police Officers to bring them in line with the
Jacksonville Sheriffs Office's (JSO) pay scales.
It is estimated that to increase the pay of our sworn Police Officers,
excluding the Director/Chief and Deputy Director/Deputy Chief, to
that of JSO Officers, using the October 2002 JSO pay, would cost
~, approximately $232,524 annually. This estimated cost would
increase by the amount of the JSO October 2003 pay increase, which
is still being negotiated.
To provide all current employees, including Police Officers, with a
one time pay adjustment to bring them up to the appropriate pay
„~, utilizing Atlantic Beach's current pay plan would cost the City
approximately $236,657 annually. However, this action would result
in Police Officers receiving less than the use of the JSO pay plan.
If we adjust the pay for Police Officers, there are two additional issues
that should be considered: pay compression and internal pay equity.
If we raise the pay for other sworn Police Officers to JSO levels, we
have pay compression between their pay and the pay of the Deputy
Director of Public Safety, who is also a sworn Police Officer in that
his current pay differential would be reduced to .001 % or $75
annually; therefore, we should raise his pay accordingly. However, if
we raise his pay, then we will have pay compression between the
Deputy Director of Public Safety and the Director of Public Safety
and should raise the pay of the Public Safety Director accordingly.
If we raise the pay for these "management" officials, we create an
internal equity pay issue in that their pay will be higher than other
~* management officials within the City. However, if we do not raise
their pay, then we have pay compression and one of these employees
receiving only $75 per year more than those that he supervises and,
~"' within a few years, receiving less than those that he supervises.
e~.
AGENDA ITEM #4C
FEBRUARY 9, 2004
Employee pay adjustments were previously reviewed prior to
implementation of the October 2001 Classif cation & Pay Plan and
not implemented due to two major factors: 1) overall cost and 2)
~" cost benefit analysis.
In the implementation of the October 2001 Classification and Pay
"""" Plan, employees were provided with additional pay for up to seven
years of City service. No credit was provided to employees with prior
"non-city" experience or for City service over seven years. The
"" consultants advised that to provide credit for additional years of
service would be very costly and would not be cost effective from
cost versus an increased retention basis.
As pay is only one of many factors that affect the City's ability to
recruit and retain employees, City Staff has annually reviewed the
total compensation and benefits of our employees in order to improve
recruitment and retention. Some recent changes have been:
Classification & Pay plan implemented on October 1, 2001; change of
employee birthday holiday to Personal Leave; allowing employees to
change their Personal Leave maximum accrual limit and a substantial
pay increase effective October 1, 2003. For Police Officers the City
has also recently expanded the take home vehicle program and
proposed providing additional pay to Police Off cers for vaxious
additional duties.
It is believed that these changes,. along with annual reviews and
~,,, modifications, will prevent the City from again getting into a pay
compression or serious pay deficient position and are long term, not
short term immediate fixes for recnzitment and retention issues.
Comparison of pay from one City to another City is also potentially
misleading in that pay is only one item of an employee's overall
compensation package. For example, Atlantic Beach Police Officers
contribute 1 % of their salary to the pension plan; whereas, JSO
Officers contribute 7%. Although the pension benefits are similar,
JSO officers are not covered under Social Security and JSO retirees
have a COLA provision. This is just one of the complex items that
affects the "net" pay for our Police Officers. Although "net pay",
along with other benefits, is not normally considered by the employee
when they compare their pay, these variables must be considered
when the City is determining how to obtain the most cost effective
benefit for the limited funds available to the City.
Although pay is a high retention determinant, it is not one of the
highest reasons affecting recruitment and retention.
Utilizing the combined results of several studies provided some
consistent patterns. Data from a Society for Human Resource
AGENDA ITEM #4C
FEBRUARY 9, 2004
Management Retention Practice Survey indicated that the top three
reasons that employees leave are:
#1 -Career Opportunities Elsewhere (78% listed this as one of the
reasons for leaving);
#2 -Better Compensation and Benefits Package (65% listed as this
one of the reasons for leaving); and
#3 -Poor Management (21 % listed this as one of the reasons for
leaving).
Retention of Police Officers is not the only retention issue within the
~• City. The attached listing of employees by year-of--hire indicates that
retention of employees throughout the City is similar. Another hard
to fill job has been that of Waste Water Operator where the City is
~* competing against JEA for a limited resource. Other hard to fill jobs
have been: Emergency Communication Operator, Animal Control
Officer, Painter, and Meter Reader.
Some workforce comparisons are:
~.
Total City workforce with more than 7 years of service = 40.5%
Sworn Police Officer with more than 7 years of service = 44.0%
Total City workforce with more than 10 years of service = 37.0%
Sworn Police Officer with more than 10 years of service = 44.0%
BUDGET: Funds for any pay adjustment would need to be identified and
included within the City budget.
RECOMMENDATION: A one-time pay adjustment is not recommended.
CITY MANAGER:
Any pay adjustments should be provided to all employees.