TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Mayor Chris Hoy
SUBJECT:
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Motion from Mayor Chris Hoy regarding City Manager compensation
Ward(s): All Wards
Councilor(s): All Councilors
Neighborhood(s): All Neighborhoods
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MOTION:
I move to adjust the salary range for the City Manager position to ensure that range is at least 5% higher than the top step of the Deputy City Manager classification and adjust the City Manager’s current salary by 7.27% to ensure it is higher than the highest paid job classification of the Executive Pay Plan.
DISCUSSION:
In February 2022, in preparation for the recruitment of a new city manager, the City Council set the City Manager salary range at $220,000 to $250,000. In July 2022, the City Manager’s contract set his initial salary at $240,000 and his employment with the City started in September 2022. Pursuant to his contract, he received 5% cost of living adjustment in July 2023 raising his annual salary to $252,000. He did not receive a merit increase after his first year of employment. His one-year performance evaluation was completed by City Council in April of 2024 and no adjustment was sought at that time.
There are 13 steps in the Executive Management Pay Plan. The top step of that plan exceeds the City Manager’s current compensation by $5,551. The city generally aims to maintain a 10% salary separation between supervisors and subordinates to avoid compression.
This motion would address this issue in two-ways; 1) it would update the City Manager salary range to provide a minimum 5% buffer between the top step of the Deputy City Manager salary range and the low-end of the City Manager salary range, and; 2) increase the City Manager’s current salary by $18,320 to ensure that it exceeds the current salary of the Deputy City Manager. The salary range of the Deputy City Manager classification and proposed City Manager salary range are:
|
Deputy City Manager Salary Range |
City Manager Salary Range |
|
$160,784 - $257,441 |
$270,320 - $282,255 |
City Manager’s salary with the proposed adjustment would be $270,320 or a 7.27% increase.
To effectively recruit and retain proficient employees at all levels it is important for the City to offer fair, market-rate, salary and overall compensation. Human Resources completed a salary study of comparable City Manager/Government Chief Executives positions in the region. The study shows the City Manager’s compensation is less than that of comparator cities (Beaverton, Bend, Eugene, Gresham, and Hillsboro).
Per the US Census 2023 population estimates, Salem is nearly the same size as Eugene and significantly larger than other cities: Salem’s population is 177,432.
|
Comparator |
Population |
City Manager Compensation |
% Compensation Difference from Comparison |
|
Beaverton |
96,945 |
$282,994 |
-12.3% |
|
Bend |
104,557 |
$245,148 |
+2.79% |
|
Eugene |
177,899 |
$286,354 |
-13.36% |
|
Gresham |
110,685 |
$260,820 |
-3.5% |
|
Hillsboro |
107,730 |
$261,838 |
-3.9% |
The proposed adjustment to the City Manager’s salary and salary range are consistent with comparable positions in the region.
Council Policy A-6 provides that within 30 days of the completion of the City Manager’s evaluation, the City Manager Evaluation Council Subcommittee may make a recommendation to City Council regarding an adjustment of the City Manager’s salary. If the Subcommittee fails to make a recommendation, any member of Council may make such a recommendation. The City Manager’s evaluation was completed in April 2024. At that time, the City Manager indicated he did not want to be considered for a salary adjustment and the Subcommittee did not make a recommendation. This motion is being presented now to correct the salary range for the City Manager position and correct the City Manager’s current salary.
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Attachments:
None