1 STAFF REPORT
DATE: July 16, 2024
TO: Justin Hess, City Manager
FROM: Betsy McClinton, Management Services Director
VIA: Julie Chaidez, Acting Human Resources Manager
BY: Michelle Rodriguez, Administrative Analyst II
SUBJECT: Adoption of a Resolution to Approve a Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Burbank and the Burbank Fire Fighters C hief Officers’ Unit from July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2027 ; and Adoption of a Resolution to Approve a Citywide Salary Schedule
RECOMMENDATION
1. Adopt A RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BURBANK
APPROVING A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING (MOU) WITH THE CITY OF BURBANK AND THE BURBANK FIRE FIGHTERS CHIEF OFFICERS’ UNIT (BFF-COU) FROM JULY 1, 2024 – JUNE 30, 2027.
2. Adopt A RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BURBANK APPROVING A CITYWIDE SALARY SCHEDULE.
BACKGROUND
The Burbank Fire Fighters Chief Officers’ Unit (BFF-COU) is a recognized employee organization comprised of the Deputy Fire Chief and Fire Battalion Chief classifications, each entrusted with significant managerial duties and responsibilities. The BFF-COU’s previous contract expired on June 30, 2024.
In accordance with Government Code § 20636 and California Code of Regulations § 570.5, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS) requires public agencies to post a publicly available salary schedule to determine earnable compensation that is approved by Council at a public meeting.
DISCUSSION
Negotiations for a New Contract
MANAGEMENT
SERVICES
2 Negotiations with the BFF -COU for a new agreement began in May 2024. Since then, staff and the BFF-COU Executive Board held four meetings to reach an agreement that would benefit both BFF -COU members and the City. Negotiations centered around Council’s adopted financial policy to compensate employees at a level commensurate with the average of Burbank’s relevant market in order to recruit and retain a well-qualified workforce. Negotiations also focused on finding effective solutions to address salary compaction issues that have emerged between BFF -COU classifications and classifications represented by the Burbank Fire Fighters Association (BFF).
The City and the BFF-COU reached a tentative agreement for the period of July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2027. The proposed agreement includes changes in salary and benefits, as listed in the Summary of Contract Changes ( Attachment 4), that support Council’s financial policy to recruit and retain a well-qualified workforce by balancing compensation with the average of the relevant market, while maintaining appropriate salary relationships among the ranks of the Burbank Fire Department ( BFD). Notable contract modifications are discussed below.
Salary Adjustment
A salary survey was conducted during negotiations for valuation of relevant market salaries. According to the findings of the salary survey , the BFF -COU stands at approximately 8.61% lower than the market average at the start of Fiscal Year (FY) 2024-
25. To adequately address compaction issues between the rank of Fire Captain, represented by BFF, and Fire Battalion Chief, while maintaining a balance with Council’s financial policy to pay the market average, staff recommends providing a salary increase of 9.5% for the Fire Battalion Chief classification, and 15% for the Deputy Fire Chief classification, effective July 7, 2024. To keep pace with the anticipated market movement, staff recommends providing a 3% salary increase for the Fire Battalion Chief and Deputy Fire Chief classifications, effective July 1, 2025. Finally, to allow flexibility to adjust to potential unpredictable market movement , staff recommends providing a minimum 2%, or up to 5% average salary increase to BFF-COU classifications based on survey data, effective July 1, 2026.
Specialized Pay Programs
To incentivize employees to move to the 40- hour staff assignment, the City proposes increasing the compensation for the Forty (40) Hour Staff Assignment from 12% to 14% of the employee’s base salary for Fire Battalion Chief while assigned to a 40- hour work week.
3 The proposed agreement also includes the introduction of a $175 per month Program Management Differential for Fire Battalion Chiefs assigned to a 56- hour schedule for managing the Hazardous Materials, Technical Rescue, or Wildland Programs.
Additionally, the City recognizes the value public safety employees bring to their work by seeking to further their education. As such, staff recommends increasing the education incentive for BFF-COU employees, as follows:
• A.A./A.S. degree or 60 Units – Increase from $200 to 2% of base salary. • B.A./B.S. degree – Increase from $300 to 3% of base salary. • M.A./M.S. degree – Increase from $325 to 4% of base salary.
Medical Insurance
The City of Burbank is among other public agencies in Southern California who contract with PERS to provide medical insurance to its employees. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, PERS medical premiums have increased at a higher than usual rate, from an average of 3%-4% per year to nearly 5% per year. As such, Council recently approved staff’s recommendations to increase the City’s monthly maximum medical contribution for other Burbank employee groups to keep pace with PERS’ anticipated increases of approximately 5% per year.
To achieve parity with other employee groups, staff recommends increasing the City’s monthly maximum contribution for BFF -COU, effective December 1, 2024, by the amounts necessary to align with other Burbank employee groups , as shown in Column
1. Further, to keep pace with staff’s approximation that CalPERS premium rates will continue to increase by an average of 5% per year, staff recommends increasing the City’s monthly medical contribution for BFF -COU an additional 5% per year effective December 1, 2025, and December 1, 2026, as shown in Columns 2 and 3.
Column 1 Column 2 Column 3
Effective 12/01/24 Effective 12/01/25 Effective 12/01/26 1 Party From $556.17 to
$730.00
From $730.00
to $767.00
From $767.00 to
$805.00
2 Party From $556.17 to
$1,459.00
From $1,459.00 to
$1,532.00
From $1,532.00 to
$1,609.00
Family From $556.17 to
$1,895.00
From $1,895.00 to
$1,990.00
From $1,990.00 to
$2,089.00
Additional Special Provisions
The proposed agreement also includes effective dates for certain compensation items that pre-date the term of the agreement. On April 4, 2023, Council provided direction to staff to address salary compaction between Fire Captain, represented by the BFF, and Fire Battalion Chief. The salary compaction was created by a new BFF MOU, effective 4 July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2025, approved by Council on February 14, 2023. The BFF MOU included increases in compensation designed to enable the BFD to overcome unprecedented recruitment and retention challenges faced both industry-wide and within the department. BFF’s MOU caused the total compensation for a Fire Captain to potentially exceed that of Fire Battalion Chief, providing a disincentive for Fire Captains to take on the additional responsibilities and duties associated with the key leadership position of Fire Battalion Chief.
Council directed staff to establish Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and Longevity pays for BFF -COU employees, effective April 30, 2023, as detailed in the BFF-COU Redline MOU (Attachment 3). These changes aligned compensation between BFF and BFF-COU employees through the remainder of the BFF -COU MOU, which expired on June 30, 2024, and will remain in place for the proposed agreement beginning July 1, 2024.
The purpose of including the effective dates for these two compensation items that pre - date the term of the proposed agreement is to comply with the PERS requirement that Council publicly adopt a resolution to approve all compensation that is reported to PERS.
This will ensure that PERS appropriately includes the two compensation items in the final pension calculation for employees who recently retired or will retire in the future.
Additionally, the proposed MOU contains additional minor revisions including clean- up language, which are detailed in the BFF-COU Redline MOU (Attachment 3).
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This activity has no potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment, and such as, is not a “project” subject to the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) 14 Cal. Code Regs §15378.
FISCAL IMPACT
Over the course of the three fiscal years contained in the MOU, the cost of the compensation and benefit changes associated with the proposed BFF-COU MOU is $1,206,403. For FY 2024-25, the cost associated with the proposed changes is $292,767.
Sufficient funds are available in the existing budget to account for the cost. Therefore, an additional budget appropriation is not required. The cost associated with the proposed changes in FY 2025-26 is $382,591, and $531,045 in FY 2026-27. Sufficient funds have been included in the City’s five-year forecast to account for these changes and will be addressed through subsequent budget cycles.
CONCLUSION
The City and the BFF -COU have tentatively agreed t o the provisions contained in the 5 MOU (Attachment 3), pending Council approval. Staff recommends that Council adopt the resolutions approving the BFF-COU MOU and an updated salary schedule. Adoption of the attached Resolutions would support Council’s goal of operating the City in a fiscally and managerially responsible manner while effectively maintaining the City’s ability to retain BFF-COU employees, whose exceptional leadership ensures BFD can continue to provide essential services to the Burbank community.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 1 – Resolution Approving BFF-COU MOU
Attachment 2 – Resolution Approving a Citywide Salary Schedule Attachment 3 – BFF-COU Redline MOU
Attachment 4 – Summary of Contract Changes