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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 6b. Consider Creating a Council Compensation Committee Item 6b Department: Administration Cost Center: 1021 For Agenda of: 12/7/2021 Placement: Business Estimated Time: 30 Minutes FROM: Greg Hermann, Deputy City Manager Prepared By: Teresa Purrington, City Clerk SUBJECT: CONSIDER CREATING A COUNCIL COMPENSATION COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION 1. Discuss and consider creating a 2022 Council Compensation Committee, which would: a. Review the full Council compensation package and make recommendations to the City Council no later than May 1, 2022, and b. Review compensation for Planning Commission and Architectural Review Commission members in conjunction with its review of Council compensation . 2. Or, defer appointment of a Council Compensation Committee and direct staff to return to Council with a Resolution amending the Council Policies and Procedures (CP&P) to allow biennial Consumer Price Index (CPI) increases to Council and Planning Commission and Architectural Review Commission salaries without appointing a Council Compensation Committee. DISCUSSION Charter Section 410 provides that compensation for the Mayor and Council shall be reviewed biennially in even numbered years. Recommended adjustments would then become effective the following January for the next two-year period. The Council Policies and Procedures Section 2.6 specifies that a seven-member citizen committee be appointed by January 31st of even numbered years and, further, that committee recommendations be forwarded to the Council no later than May 1st. Additionally, in 2001 Council adopted Resolution No. 9189, directing a review of compensation for Architectural Review Commissioners and Planning Commissioners in conjunction with its periodic review of Council compensation. Forming and supporting a committee is a significant work effort and requires hundreds of hours of staff and committee time. When the committee has been convened, past practice has been that Council Members nominated individuals to serve on the committee by submitting names to the City Clerk. The City Clerk recruited individuals using the following criteria: 1) by first calling those qualified to serve and who received more than one nomination and 2) by contacting one nominee from each Council Member who had submitted recommendations. In the past, in the event that a member was unavailable to attend a committee meeting, Council has appointed alternates. Committee Members who have served in the last 10 years are listed in Attachment A. Page 513 of 520 Item 6b If the Council opts to proceed with the full committee review, staff recommend s that the City Clerk receive names of individuals from Council members by January 4, 2022, that the City Clerk confirm interest with individuals suggested , and that the names of all interested individuals be presented to Council and the public for discussion at the January 18, 2022, City Council meeting. If the Council’s decision is to proceed with the process, Council Policies and Procedures (CP&P) Section 2.6.1 establishes guidelines for the make-up of the committee, as follows: The committee membership shall have as broad a representation as possible, including but not limited to, one previously elected official, one Personnel Board member, and one citizen-at-large. Section 2.6.2 outlines the responsibilities of the Council Compensation Committee, as follows: The committee shall review the full Council compensation package including salary, benefits, expense reimbursement, professional development allowances and any other compensation provided the City Council. Review should include, but shall not be limited to: 1) compensation of Council and Mayors of cities of similar population/budget size; 2) compensation practices of both Charter and General Law cities; 3) Government Code provisions for General Law cities; and 4) Council and Mayor responsibilities in San Luis Obispo at the time of the committee's review; and, 5) any structural changes that may have occurred in municipal government either as a result of State legislation or by actions of the local electorate that may have added to or deducted from the duties and responsibilities of the Council Members and/or Mayor. In previous years, the Council Compensation Committee process took an average of five months and requires extensive staff research to provide comparative data from our benchmark cities. If Council does not believe that the formation of a Council Compensation Committee is the warranted given the recent comprehensive update and review in 2019 and that a full review of Council’s compensation package is necessary at this time, Council could direct that staff return with an amendment to CP&P allowing the City Council to approve an increase based on the Consumer Price Index measured by All Urban Consumers (CPI- Page 514 of 520 Item 6b U)1 comparing January 2021 to January 2022, estimated to be approximately 5.4%. The exact amount can be determined in March 2022 when the January 2022 numbers become available. If Council pursues this approach, any change greater than the CPI amount or to the rest of the compensation package would require the Council to a ppoint a Compensation Committee to review and recommend changes to the City Council. Council could also apply the CPI-U to the compensation for the Planning Commission and Architectural Review Commission at the same time. Previous Council or Advisory Body Action The last review of the Council, Planning Commission, and Architectural Review Commission compensation was in 2020. At that time, Resolution No. 11085 (2020 Series) was adopted increasing compensation for the Mayor and Council Members only (Attachment B). In 2010, 2012 and 2015, the Council elected to defer appointing a Council Compensation Committee. Policy Context As previously stated, Charter Section 410 provides that compensation for the Mayor and Council shall be reviewed biennially in even years and Resolution No. 9189 (2001 Series) provides that Planning Commission and Architectural Review Commission compensation will be reviewed with the biennial review of the Council compensation. Public Engagement No public engagement has been done for this item however the public will have an opportunity to comment on this at the meeting. Furthermore, should council appoint a committee, these meetings will be open to the public and any recommendations will be presented at a publicly noticed meeting. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW The California Environmental Quality Act does not apply to the recommended action in this report, because the action does not constitute a “Project” under CEQA Guidelines Sec. 15378. 1 The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of the average change in prices over time in a fixed market basket of goods and services. The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes CPIs for two population groups: (1) a CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) which covers approximately 93 percent of the total U.S. population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers approximately 29 percent of the total U.S. population. The CPI-U includes, in addition to wage earners and clerical workers, groups such as professional, managerial, and technical workers, the self-employed, short-term workers, the unemployed, and retirees and others not in the labor force. The CPI is based on prices of food, clothing, shelter, and fuels, transportation fares, charges for doctors' and dentists' services, drugs, and the other goods and services that people buy for day -to-day living. Each month, prices are collected in 75 urban areas across the country from about 6,000 housing units and approximately 22,000 retail establishments—department stores, supermarkets, hospitals, filling stations, and other types of stores and service establishments. All taxes directly associated with the purchase and use of items are included in the index. Page 515 of 520 Item 6b FISCAL IMPACT Budgeted: Yes Budget Year: 2021-22 Funding Identified: N/A Fiscal Analysis: Funding Sources Total Budget Available Current Funding Request Remaining Balance Annual Ongoing Cost General Fund $ N/A $ $ $ State Total $N/A $ $ $ The cost to staff a Council Compensation Committee is anticipated every two years when the budget is approved for the City Administration and IT Department. If Council chooses to amend the CP&P to include a CPI increase, the fiscal analysis for this change would be included in the council agenda report for the CP&P amendment and future budget appropriations requested accordingly. ALTERNATIVES Council could decide to forego the creation of the Council Compensation Committee and limit review to a Council determination to maintain the compensation set by the 2020 Resolution. ATTACHMENTS A – Previously Appointed Council Compensation Committee Members B – Resolution No. 11085 (2020 Series) Page 516 of 520 Council Compensation Committee Former Members 2010- 2020 2010 Members Council Compensation review not conducted 2012 Members Council Compensation review not conducted 2014 Members John Ewan - Previously Elected Official Marcia Nelson - Personnel Board Amy Kardel - Citizen-at-Large Ken Tasseff - Citizen-at-Large Gordon Mullin - Citizen-at-Large 2016 Members Council Compensation review not conducted 2018 Members John Ewan - Previously Elected Official Frank Guyton - Personnel Board Louise Matheny - Citizen-at-Large Dale Stocker - Citizen-at-Large Brett Strickland - Citizen-at-Large Alternate Louise Justice 2020 Members (changed to 7 members) Dan Rivoire – Previous Elected Official Cal Stevens – Personnel Board Member Audrey Bigelow – Citizen -at-Large Kim Bisheff – Citizen-at-Large Garrett Otto - Citizen-at-Large Jenn Stubbs - Citizen-at-Large Ron Yukelson - Citizen-at-Large Page 517 of 520 Page 518 of 520 Page 519 of 520 Page 520 of 520 Council Compensation CommitteeDecember 7, 2021 Recommendation 1.Discuss and consider creating a 2022 Council Compensation Committee, which would:a. Review the full Council compensation package and make recommendations to the City Council no later than May 1, 2022, andb. Review compensation for Planning Commission and Architectural Review Commission members in conjunction with its review of Council compensation.2.Or defer appointment of a Council Compensation Committee and direct staff to return to Council with a Resolution amending the Council Policies and Procedures (CP&P) to allow biennial Consumer Price Index (CPI) increases to Council, Planning Commission and Architectural Review Commission salaries without appointing a Council Compensation Committee. BackgroundCity Charter provides for a biennial review of the Mayor and Council Member compensation in even numbered years.Council Policies and Procedures specifies how the review is to be performed:A seven-member committeeAppointed no later than the last meeting JanuaryRecommendations in resolution form to Council no later than May 1, 2022 Compensation changes approved by City Council effective January 2023 Committee Review ResponsibilityFull City Council compensation package:Salary, benefits, expense reimbursement, professional development allowances and any other compensation provided the City CouncilResolution 10516 (2014) includes review of compensation for Planning Commission and the Architectural Review CommissionLast comprehensive review of City Council compensation was in 2020 Committee RecruitmentCouncil Policies and Procedures guidelines:“The committee membership shall have as broad a representation as possible, including but not limited to, one previously elected official, one Personnel Board member, and one citizen-at-large.”Council Members nominate individuals to serve on the CommitteeIn 2019, the Committee was increased to 7 Members with no alternates Committee ProcessCouncil nominations due by January 4, 2022Council appointments during January 18, 2022 City Council MeetingIn previous years, the Committee process took an average of 5 monthsCommittee meetings would be held between February and mid-AprilApproximately 2 meetings per month will be required to meet the May 1, 2022 requirementRecommendation to Council at the April 19, 2022 City Council Meeting Previous Committee WorkEstablished a purpose and objectivesReviewed full Council compensation package and reviewed compensation packages of nine comparable citiesResearched time spent by previous Council MembersResearched Council compensation methodologiesConducted public outreachCompleted financial analysis Current Mayor and Council Member CompensationPrevious CurrentCouncil Members$1,224/mo. | $14,688/yr. $1,990 mo. | $23,880 yr.Mayor $1,725/mo. | $20,700 yr. $2,508 mo. | $30,096 yr.No other changes to benefits AlternativesIf Council does not believe the formation of the Compensation Committee is warranted at this time, the Council may:Direct staff to amend the Council Policies and Procedures to allow Council to approve an increase based on the Consumer Price Index.This could also apply to the Planning Commission and Architectural Review Commission meeting stipend.Forego creation of a Council Compensation Committee until January 2024 Recommendation 1.Discuss and consider creating a 2022 Council Compensation Committee, which would:a. Review the full Council compensation package and make recommendations to the City Council no later than May 1, 2022, andb. Review compensation for Planning Commission and Architectural Review Commission members in conjunction with its review of Council compensation.2.Or defer appointment of a Council Compensation Committee and direct staff to return to Council with a Resolution amending the Council Policies and Procedures (CP&P) to allow biennial Consumer Price Index (CPI) increases to Council and Planning Commission and Architectural Review Commission salaries without appointing a Council Compensation Committee.