Department heads want Manhattan city commissioners to commit to implementing more salary increases if it goes through with conducting a pay study.
The human resources department wants to conduct a pay study in 2022, costing $80,000. Officials said they want the commission to follow through on implementing the study, so the city government can attract and retain employees.
“In terms of if we’re going to do the salary study, we need to follow through,” said Rob Ott, public works director. “Otherwise, let’s just take the money and give it to a certain class of our employees, so at least they get something because like (parks and recreation director Eddie Eastes) said, some of us that have been around, we’ve been through a couple of these, and we see nothing changes. So there’s some distrust out there right now.”
A pay study would examine where compensation for Manhattan government employees rank in comparison to others in the industry.
Manhattan city commissioners heard feedback and 2022 budget requests from department heads during a Tuesday work session. Departments requested $2 million in new spending in the 2022 budget. The commission did not take any formal action on the budget.
Deputy city manager Jason Hilgers said the city conducted the last pay study in 2014. That study showed that several positions and people were not earning a wage at or near the average in the industry based on job duties, experience and education, Hilgers said, but the city didn’t implement all of the potential pay increases.
“The only action taken from the 2014 study was bringing a small number of employees to the new minimum in the adjusted pay scale,” Hilger said after the meeting. “It had a minimal impact to the overall budget.”
However, Hilgers said annual increases are provided to employees, typically in the 3% to 3.5% range.
Commissioner Linda Morse said the reason why other pay increases from the study may not have gone through is because of voters electing new commissioners.
“As commissioner Morse talked about, the changeover, the turnover in commission, the ebb and flow, the uncertainty there, how do you build in some certainty?” said commissioner Aaron Estabrook. “Because every department indicated that there needed to be some certainty around pay and there … has been trust that’s been lost in the past based on just a pay study.”
In addition, officials said Tuesday the city government intends to open all three pools in 2022. This year, only City Park and Northview pools opened because city officials said they weren’t able to prepare the CiCo Park Pool in time for the summer. The city government did not open any pools in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Manhattan city commissioners are eyeing a flat mill levy for the 2022 budget at 49.835 mills. A mill is $1 for every $1,000 in assessed, taxable property value. The flat mill levy indicates the owner of a $100,000 home paying $573.10 in 2021 would pay $585.71 in 2022, considering the average value of an existing single-family home in Riley County increased by 2.2%.
Last month, commissioners started discussions for the 2022 budget. The commission must finalize the budget by August.
In other action Tuesday, commissioners:
- Reviewed proposed amendments and updates to the city’s code of ordinances for water and sewer utilities. Some of the amendments provide clarity on ordinance language and items such as customer accounts.
For instance, if a customer wants to cancel an account on any active connection, they have to transfer it to a responsible party for billing. Examples include the new owner on a real estate transfer or the property owner on a lease.
“I think it’s of course due time that we update all of this, just for consistency sake,” said commissioner Usha Reddi.
The commission did not vote on this topic as it was a discussion item.
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City staff wants follow through on potential pay study - Manhattan Mercury
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