City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: December 19, 2023
Agenda Item: 5.L
1 of 4
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Oles Gordeev, Acting Director of Human Resources, Human Resources Department
Subject: Adoption of Resolution Adopting Salary Rates for City Manager and Police Chief and Approval of Modification to Employment Agreement with David White for service as City Manager
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Adopt a finding that this action does not constitute a “project” within the meaning of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), or, in the alternative, a finding of Categorical Exemption pursuant to Section 15324 (Regulations of Working Conditions) of the CEQA Guidelines.
2. Adopt a resolution of the City of Santa Monica adjusting the salary rates for City Manager and Police Chief (Attachment A).
3. Approve modification to employment agreement with David White for service as City Manager, and authorize the Mayor to sign the modification to employment agreement on behalf of the City (Attachment B).
Summary
In order to maintain an appropriate base salary relationship between Deputy Police Chief and Police Chief, staff recommends increasing the annual salary for Police Chief by 6%. As a result of the proposed increase in salary for Police Chief, the salary for City Manager must also be increased to maintain appropriate internal alignment to ensure that that the City Manager is compensated at a higher rate than the Police Chief.
Therefore, staff recommends a 10% increase in base salary for the City Manager, which results in the City Manager’s salary being approximately 7% more than the Police Chief.
To accomplish these adjustments, staff recommends that the City Council adopt the 2 of 4
attached resolution adopting salary rates for the City Manager and Police Chief and approve the attached modification to the City Manager’s employment agreement.
Discussion
Article 2.02 of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the City and Santa Monica Police Officers Association requires that the Step 5 salaries of employees represented by the union be increased, if necessary, to cause those employees’ “net pay”, as defined in the MOU, of the Police Officer job classification to be the second highest of the “net pay” paid to the employees with five years of service among ten local police departments listed in the MOU. Per the MOU, this increase is effective at the beginning of the pay period that includes January 1. As a result of this contract provision, the members of the Police Officers Association received a 10.13% increase in base salary effective January 1, 2023, which resulted in salary compression between Deputy Police Chief and Police Chief.
As of July 2022, the annual base salary for the Police Chief was $328,656 at step 5 of the salary range and the Deputy Police Chief was $255,984 at step 5 of the salary range, which resulted in a 28.4% difference between the two classifications. Deputy Police Chief received a 10.13% increase to base salary effective January 2023, and a subsequent 1% increase effective July 2023, resulting in a current annual salary of $284,736 at step 5 of the salary range. During the same time period, the Police Chief’s annual salary was increased to $355,440 at step 5 of the salary range. As a result of all the changes, the difference in salary between Deputy Police Chief and Police Chief has decreased from 28.4% to the current 24.8%. This differential is further eroded considering the additional negotiated supplemental pays (i.e., longevity, educational incentives, deployment pay) that the Deputy Police Chief receives under the MOU and the fact that the Deputy Police Chief qualifies for overtime in limited circumstances.
When accounting for these additional negotiated supplemental pays, excluding overtime pay, the Deputy Police Chief is being paid approximately 2.9% more than the Police Chief and 1.6% more than the City Manager. In order to provide for an appropriate 3 of 4
salary differential between the Deputy Police Chief and Police Chief classifications, staff recommends that the annual salary for Police Chief is increased by 6%.
The current annual base salary for the City Manager is $365,952. The proposed salary adjustment for the Police Chief classification increases the annual base salary at step 5 to $376,764, resulting in the Police Chief making approximately 3% more than the City Manager. Given the City Manager’s broad span of authority, it is necessary and appropriate to ensure that the City Manager is compensated at a level that exceeds the Police Chief. To provide for an appropriate salary differential between the City Manager and the Police Chief, staff proposes a 10% increase for City Manager which will provide for an annual salary of $402,552. As a result, the total compensation for the City Manager will be more aligned with the compensation received by City Managers in neighboring municipalities. For example, the annual compensation for City Manager at the City of Beverly Hills is $410,867 in consideration of base pay and management incentive pay received. The City of Beverly Hills also provides for performance pay of up to 10% of base salary. Santa Monica’s City Manager does not receive a management incentive or performance pay. Finally, the proposed salary adjustments for the City Manager and Police Chief results in the City Manager’s salary at a level that is approximately 7% more than the Police Chief, which is a reasonable level of separation given the City Manager’s scope of responsibilities and is consistent with the level of separation between City Managers and Police Chiefs of comparable agencies.
Attachment A presents a salary resolution adjusting the salary for City Manager and Police Chief. Attachment B presents a modification to the employment agreement with the City Manager.
Environmental Review
This action does not constitute a “project” within the meaning of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because a salary resolution and modification to a personnel contract will not cause either a direct physical change in the environment or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment. Furthermore, if this action were considered a project, it would be categorically exempt pursuant to Section 4 of 4
15324 (Regulations of Working Conditions) of the CEQA Guidelines, which consists of actions taken by regulatory agencies to regulate employee wages and worker conditions.
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
No budget action is necessary at this time as a result of the recommended action in this report. The FY 2023-24 six-month prorated full-burden cost to the General Fund for the adjustments identified in this report is approximately $38,000 and will be absorbed within existing budgets in the City Manager and Police Departments.
Future year funding is contingent on Council budget approval.
Prepared By: Michael Arnoldus, Human Resources Manager
Approved Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. Attachment A - Salary Resolution Police Chief and City Manager 12 19 2023 B. White.CMEmploymentAgreement.FirstModification
C. Written Comments