City Council Memorandum
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL DATE: NOVEMBER 19, 2024 FROM: HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT WARDS: ALL SUBJECT: REVISIONS TO THE MASTER FRINGE BENEFITS AND SALARY PLAN FOR THE SALARY ADJUSTMENTS TO THE UTILITIES WATER SUPERINTENDENT, UTILITIES ASSISTANT WATER SUPERINTENDENT, UTILITIES SENIOR WATER ENGINEER, UTILITIES SENIOR ELECTRICAL ENGINEER, SENIOR TRAFFIC ENGINEER, AND SENIOR ENGINEER CLASSIFICATIONS; AND THE SALARY ADJUSTMENT TO THE MINIMUM SALARY FOR THE PRINCIPAL ENGINEER CLASSIFICATION.
ISSUE:
Approve a revision to the Citywide Fringe Benefits and Salary Plan for the salary adjustments to the Utilities Water Superintendent, Utilities Assistant Water Superintendent, Utilities Senior Water Engineer, Utilities Senior Electrical Engineer, Senior Traffic Engineer, and Senior Engineer classifications; and the salary adjustment to the minimum salary for the Principal Engineer classification.
RECOMMENDATION:
That the City Council
Approve the salary adjustments to the Utilities Water Superintendent, Utilities Assistant Water Superintendent, Utilities Senior Water Engineer, Utilities Senior Electrical Engineer, Senior Traffic Engineer, and Senior Engineer classifications; and the salary adjustment to the minimum salary for the Principal Engineer classification; Adopt the attached Resolution amending the Master Fringe Benefits and Salary Plan to reflect the salary adjustments to the Utilities Water Superintendent, Utilities Assistant Water Superintendent, Utilities Senior Water Engineer, Utilities Senior Electrical Engineer, Senior Traffic Engineer, and Senior Engineer classifications; and the salary adjustment to the minimum salary for the Principal Engineer classification.
DISCUSSION:
Salary Adjustments:
Utilities Water Superintendent and Utilities Assistant Water Superintendent The Riverside Public Utilities submitted a request to the Human Resources Department to conduct a salary study to determine if the Utilities Water Superintendent, Utilities Assistant Water Superintendent and SCADA duties compared against the market. The review was conducted by Creative Management Solutions, Inc., an external Classification and Compensation Consultant contracted by the City.
The City’s approved Labor Market Basket was utilized to identify comparable classifications. The results of the study reflected that the Utilities Assistant Water Superintendent is below market average by -16.88%. The recommendation is to spread out the adjustment and create the appropriate differential between the subordinate classifications per the City’s Fringe Benefits and Salary Plan, Part II, Section 5, Salary Differentials, I. Miscellaneous (1), which states that the top step of the salary range of any Sr. Management/Management/Professional/Supervisory classification shall be a minimum of two steps (approximately ten percent) above the top step of the closest subordinate classification, with the exception of those classifications supervising specialized classifications which are highly compensated due to labor market conditions. A subordinate classification shall be defined as any position classification in which there are employees who are supervised by the management employee. Additionally, the recommendation is to apply a portion of the adjustment to the Utilities Water Superintendent classification to allow for a broader spread of differentials between these two classifications and addresses the impact of the loss of overtime for incumbents who promote from the represented utilities field classifications. The Human Resources Department recommends salary adjustments to the two classifications as illustrated below:
Job Code
Classification Title
Current Monthly Salary Range
Proposed Monthly Salary Range
% Salary Adjustment
3740
Utilities Water Superintendent
(BU 10 – Management)
$11,207 - $13,621
$11,767 - $14,302
5%
3730
Utilities Assistant Water Superintendent
(BU 10 – Management)
$8,783 - $10,674
$9,869 - $11,993
12.36%
Senior Engineer and Principal Engineer Classifications
The Riverside Public Utilities submitted a request to the Human Resources Department to conduct a salary study to determine if the Utilities Water Engineering classifications are aligned competitively to the market basket. The review was completed by the Human Resources Department. The results of the study reflected that the Utilities Senior Water Engineer classification was behind market average by -3.39%. The recommendation is to adjust the salary for the Utilities Senior Water Engineer classification to market average. This adjustment will impact other classifications in the engineering series of classifications that are currently aligned with the Utilities Senior Water Engineer classification. The recommendation is for these classifications to remain aligned and to apply the salary adjustment as illustrated below:
Job Code
Classification Title
Current Monthly Salary Range
Proposed Monthly Salary Range
% Salary Adjustment
7160
Utilities Senior Water Engineer
(BU 15 – Professional)
$10,608 - $12,894
$10,968 - $13,331
3.39%
7180
Utilities Senior Electrical Engineer
(BU 15 – Professional)
$10,608 - $12,894
$10,968 - $13,331
3.39%
7225
Senior Traffic Engineer
(BU 15 – Professional)
$10,608 - $12,894
$10,968 - $13,331
3.39%
7130
Senior Engineer
(BU 15 – Professional)
$10,608 - $12,894
$10,968 - $13,331
3.39%
The Human Resources Department recommends a salary adjustment to the minimum salary for the Principal Engineer classification to establish an appropriate differential from the minimum salary of the subordinate classification. Currently, the subordinate classification minimum salary is higher than the minimum salary for the Principal Engineer. No adjustment is recommended to the maximum salary. The salary adjustment to the minimum salary will be two 5% adjustments (compounded) above the adjusted minimum salary of the subordinate classification. The salary adjustment to the minimum salary for the Principal Engineer is illustrated below:
Job Code
Classification Title
Current Monthly Salary Range
Proposed Monthly Salary Range
7140
Principal Engineer
(BU 15 – Professional)
$10,277 - $15,184
$12,092 - $15,184
STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT:
Adopting the Resolution to amend the Master Fringe Benefits and Salary Plan to adopt the new classifications and salary range adjustments contributes to the City of Riverside’s Strategic Priority of a High Performing Government, Goal 5.1: Attract, develop, engage and retain a diverse and highly skilled workforce across the entire City organization.
Community Trust – Salary adjustments allow the city to accurately align with comparable market classifications to attract the appropriate workforce skillset to efficiently maintain City services.
Equity – Classifications and salary levels are reviewed against comparable classifications within the approved City market basket. These are also reviewed internally to ensure the appropriate internal salary alignment with comparable classifications.
Fiscal Responsibility – Classifications and salaries are reviewed both internally and within the City’s comparable market basket to ensure appropriate salary alignment.
Innovation – Classifications are reviewed and updated, and new classifications are created to ensure the City is progressive on new fields of study, changes to specific fields related to certifications, associated technology, educational and experience requirements.
Sustainability & Resiliency – Classifications are updated, and salary adjustments are adopted to ensure employees can work effectively and efficiently; and at the same time retain a diverse range of highly skilled employees who can adapt to the changing needs of the City both internally and externally.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The total Fiscal Year 2024/25 financial impact for the positions listed (23 FTE) is $139,980. Departments will absorb any impacts from changes to the FBSP in their currently adopted budget and any cost increases resulting from this action in future budget years will be included in departmental budgets brought forward to Council for adoption.
Prepared by: Rene Goldman, Human Resources Director
Certified as to
Availability of funds: Kristie Thomas, Finance Director/Assistant CFO Approved by: Edward Enriquez, Assistant City Manager/CFO, City Treasurer Approved as to form: Jack Liu, Interim City Attorney
Attachments:
Resolution Amending the Fringe Benefits and Salary Plan Exhibit A – Job Code Table
Exhibit B – Salary Survey Data – Utilities Water Superintendent, Utilities Assistant Water Superintendent