Item 11c - Compensation Increases for ACEA, APWEA, Urepresented Group & Executive Management Group

DATE: April 19, 2022

TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council

FROM: Dominic Lazzaretto, City Manager
Jason Kruckeberg, Assistant City Manager/Development Services Director By: Dr. Jennifer Brutus, Senior Management Analyst

SUBJECT: RESOLUTION NO. 7417 AUTHORIZING COMPENSATION INCREASES

FOR SPECIFIC EMPLOYEE CLASSIFICATIONS IN THE A RCADIA CITY EMPLOYEES’ ASSOCIATION ( “ACEA”), ARCADIA PUBLIC WORKS
EMPLOYEES’ ASSOCIATION ( “APWEA”), UNREPRESENTED GROUP,

AND EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT GROUP
Recommendation: Adopt

SUMMARY

It is recommended that the City Council adopt Resolution No. 7417 (Attachment “A”) authorizing compensation increases for positions in specific classifications from the Arcadia City Employees ’ Association (“ACEA”), Arcadia Public Works Employees ’ Association (“APWEA”), Unrepresented Group, and Executive Management Group, and amending the associated salary schedules accordingly to meet fair compensation standards and strengthen employee retention. The salary increases will cost $40,142 for the final two months of Fiscal Year 2021- 22 with an annual difference of $248,211 beginning in Fiscal Year 2022-23.

BACKGROUND

Over a series of meetings in the latter half of 2021, the City Council approved updated Memoranda of Understanding (“MOUs”) with all five of the City’s labor bargaining groups.

These MOUs included agreements on compensation increases over a three-year period for all employees in the City, in addition to other benefits and modifications. Subsequent to the approval of these agreements, the City Council directed staff to further examine the City’s salary schedules to determine where equitable adjustments could be made.

Specifically, the focus of this work included review of positions that currently fall 10% or more below the median salary range for similar positions in comparable cities even after salary adjustments provided in the MOUs.

Compensation Increases for APCEA, APWEA, Unrepresented Group, and Executive Management Group
April 19, 2022

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DISCUSSION

Data was collected following the implementation of the first year of compensation increases agreed to in the MOUs. It was determined that there are 20 specific employee classifications that should be adjusted in the ACEA, APWEA, and Unrepresented Groups, and four classifications that should be adjusted in the Executive Management Group. The specific positions and proposed adjustments are shown in the table attached to the proposed resolution and are listed below for reference:

• APWEA: Maintenance Worker, Utilities Crew Supervisor, Water Production Supervisor, Streets Maintenance Crew Supervisor.

• ACEA: Recreation Coordinator, Code Services Officer, Senior Code Services Officer, Engineering Assistant, Senior Engineering Assistant, Assistant Engineer, Associate Civil Engineer, Senior Civil Engineer, Building Inspector, Senior Building Inspector, Fire Prevention Specialist, Assistant Planner, Associate Planner, Senior Planner.

• Unrepresented/Executive Management: Executive Assistant, Fire Battalion Chief, Director of Library & Museum Services, Director of Recreation & Community Services, Director of Administrative Services, Assistant City Manager/Development Services Director.

The majority of the positions listed are engineering and technical employee classifications that require professional degrees or certifications and experience that is difficult to acquire. Because the salaries offered have not been competitive, many of these positions have had a high turn over rate in recent years and are often difficult to fill. For many of these classifications, the City is also competing with private sector employers, which are known to pay significantly more for positions requiring similar skill levels, technical skills or degrees, or certifications.

Likewise, several positions are among the lowest compensated full -time positions in the City; when those salaries are significantly lower than the marketplace, it is difficult to retain and attract qualified candidates.

For Battalion Chiefs, an adjustment is warranted due to the compaction between this position and the Captain position, which receives general overtime and differential pay, whereas the Battalion Chief position does not. The result is that the lower -level position currently receives higher base compensation than their supervisor, which is a disincentive for promotion.

Compensation Increases for APCEA, APWEA, Unrepresented Group, and Executive Management Group
April 19, 2022

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As is required by the MOUs, the City’s negotiating team met and conferred with the two bargaining groups containing a ffected classifications: the ACEA and the AP WEA. The groups provided input and asked questions from their Board and Membership.

It is recommended that the City Council approve the salary increases to bring the labor rates in line with fair standar ds. By authorizing the compensation adjustments , the C ity will be doing what it can to offer more competitive salaries in a highly competitive job market and will provide more internal consistency with the City’s overall compensation principles.

ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS

The proposed action does not constitute a project under the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”), and it can be seen with certainty that it will have no impact on the environment. Thus, this matter is exempt under CEQA.

FISCAL IMPACT

Increasing the salaries of the listed employees for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2021-22 (2 months) will cost $40,142. There are sufficient funds to support this increase in the Fiscal Year 2021-22 Operating Budget.

The total annual cost will be $248,211 in Fiscal Year 2022-23, which will be included in the proposed Operating Budget.

RECOMMENDATION

It is recommended that the City Council find that the proposed action does not constitute a project under the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”); and adopt Resolution No. 7417 authorizing compensation increases for specific employee classifications in the Arcadia City Empl oyees’ Association (“ACEA”), Arcadia Public Works Employees ’ Association (“APWEA”), Unrepresented Group, and Executive Management Group, and amending the associated salary schedules.

Attachment “A”: Resolution No. 7417
Attachment “B”: Updated Salary Schedules
RESOL UTION NO. 7417

A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ARCADIA,

CALIFORNIA AUTHORIZING COMPENSATION INCREASES FOR

SPECIFIC EMPLOYEE CLASSIFICATIONS IN THE ARCADIA CITY
EMPLOYEES' ASSOCIATION ("ACEA"), ARCADIA PUBLIC
WORKS EMPLOYEES' ASSOCIATION ("APWEA"), UNREPRESENTED

GROUP, AND EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT GROUP
WHEREAS, during Fiscal Year 2021-22, the City Council approved updated Memoranda of Understanding ("MOU") with all five of the City's labor bargaining groups, which
included compensation increases, benefits changes, and other modifications, and directed staff to further review the City's salary schedules to determine where equitable adjustments could be made; and
WHEREAS, staff reviewed positions that fell into one or more categories, including those positions that currently fall roughly 10% or more below the median salary range for similar positions in comparable cities even after salary adjustments provided in the MOUs, positions that had shown to be challenging to retain and fill at their current levels, and positions that require specific technical skills and/or degrees; and WHEREAS, following the review it was concluded that adjustments are needed to meet
fair compensation standards, and strengthen employee recruitment and retention; and
WHEREAS, it was determined that there are 20 specific employee classifications that
should be adjusted in the Arcadia City Employees' Association ("ACEA"), Arcadia Public Works Employees' Association ("APWEA"), and Unrepresented Groups, and four classifications that should be adjusted in the Executive Management Group, for which the associated salary schedules will be amended; and WHEREAS, an additional increase of $1,000 per month should be added to the Assistant City Manager classification to differentiate this position from the rest of the 1 Attachment "A"

Title Step A Step B Step C Step D Step E Step F Step G Step H Step I Step J Director of Library & Museum
Services 12,416$ 12,734 $ 13,060 $ 13,395 $ 13,738 $ 14,090 $ 14,451 $ 14,822 $ 15,202 $ 15,592 $ Director of Recreation &
Community Services 12,416$ 12,734 $ 13,060 $ 13,395 $ 13,738 $ 14,090 $ 14,451 $ 14,822 $ 15,202 $ 15,592 $ Public Works Services Director 13,041$ 13,365 $ 13,702 $ 14,044 $ 14,396 $ 14,754 $ 15,122 $ 15,500 $ 15,891 $ 16,286 $ Administrative Services Director 13,958$ 14,316 $ 14,683 $ 15,059 $ 15,445 $ 15,841 $ 16,247 $ 16,664 $ 17,091 $ 17,529 $ Assistant City Manager/
Development Services Director 14,508$ 14,880 $ 15,262 $ 15,653 $ 16,054 $ 16,466 $ 16,888 $ 17,321 $ 17,765 $ 18,220 $ Fire Chief 14,468$ 14,832 $ 15,203 $ 15,583 $ 15,972 $ 16,372 $ 16,781 $ 17,201 $ 17,634 $ 18,072 $ Police Chief 14,832$ 15,203 $ 15,583 $ 15,972 $ 16,372 $ 16,781 $ 17,201 $ 17,634 $ 18,072 $ 18,526$ Assistant City Manager ** 1,000$
** An Excutive Management position that is also apppointed as the Assistant City Manager will receive additional differential pay of $1,000 per month.

SAFETY EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT
ATTACHMENT "B"