City of Palos Heights Finance Committee met March 14

By Angelica Saylo Pilo

May 16, 2023

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

CALL TO ORDER

Chairman McGrogan called the Finance Committee meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. In attendance were Alderman Key, Alderman Bylut and Alderman McGovern. Also present was City Administrator David Strohl, Treasurer Jim Daemicke, and Recording Secretary Morgan Pukula. Director of Public Works Adam Jasinski exited the meeting at 6:40 p.m, Director of Parks and Recreation Matt Fairbanks entered at 6:45 p.m.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Alderman McGrogan moved to approve the minutes of the Finance Committee meeting held on January 10, 2023, seconded by Alderman Bylut. On a voice vote, the motion passed unanimously.

CLOSED SESSION

At 6:01 p.m. Chairman McGrogan moved to go into closed session for the purpose of discussing collective bargaining matters, seconded by Alderman Key. Upon a call of the roll, the motion passed on the following vote:

Ayes: 3-Bylut, McGovern, McGrogan, Key

Nays: 0-None.

Absent: 0-None.

At 6:41 p.m. the Finance Committee reconvened into regular session.

APPROVAL OF THOMAS BROWN BILLS

Alderman Key moved to approve the Thomas Brown bills in the amount of $2,300.00 seconded by Alderman McGovern. On a voice vote, the motion passed unanimously.

APPROVAL OF MORRIS BILLS

Alderman McGovern moved to approve the Morris Engineering bills in the amount of $173.50 seconded by Alderman Key. On a voice note, the motion passed unanimously.

APPROVAL OF CLASSIFICATION AND COMPENSATION STUDY

City Administrator David Strohl explained what the study would consist of. Consultants from an outside agency would complete a job analysis questionnaire amongst the full-time, nonunion employees to analyze their duties and then revise their job descriptions and complete a salary survey amongst comparable municipalities. Currently, the city does not have a pay plan, pay schedule, steps or ranges for salaries. We reached out to 4 agencies, in which 3 provided a response. David recommended McGrath Human Resources Group whose employees’ backgrounds are in human resources. They are out of Tennessee and the payment would not exceed $35,000. Of the three, they are in the middle price range. There are two pieces they would focus on: the external equity which compares to comparable employers in the area and internal equity which compares position to position where wage compressions could occur.

Alderman McGrogan expressed concern on the amount of the survey when there is public information about other municipalities available for us. From past experience, we take the recommendations from the consultants but may find someone who is more qualified for the job and offer a different salary anyway. We have done the work our self in the past and called around to multiple cities to obtain their compensations. Alderman McGrogan stated our personnel can correlate our own study with information gathered from other comparable cities. Alderman McGovern and David stated they do not believe we have the depth of employees to complete this study.

Treasurer Jim Daemicke asked David to provide more information on what we would do with the results of the study afterwards. David explained that ultimately, the council would have to vote and approve the pay structure. If this was simply a salary survey, our personnel would be able to conduct this study. The hired consultants would be reviewing the jobs to make sure the descriptions are correct and legal, as well as guide the salary survey. Once we receive this information, deciphering the pay structure would go beyond expertise of our employees. They would be looking at comparable EAV’s, budgets, number of employees, etc. Jim stated as consultants they are able to use their expertise to look at the legal side of things and have another set of eyes on the structure we are looking to create.

Alderman Bylut stated as a city we want to be competitive in the job offer category so we can keep qualified employees. He expressed there may be an advantage to this study because we want to be competitive and fair. Alderman McGrogan again stated his concern about the longevity of your employees in a company. An issue he’s seen in the past is when the information is gathered, other factors aren’t considered, such as, time they spent with the company, the people they know, etc. The comparisons are hard to gage with other municipalities when we only focus on salary gaps. He also expressed concern about the city being prepared for the results to show the employees are being paid less than the average for their positions.

Alderman Key questioned if this was going to be the system we filter new employees into or will we adjust all our employees into this structure. David stated it would be a structure we would go off in the future. He also expressed it is extremely difficult to hire people in the public sector versus the private as well, so we as the city want to establish a more competitive environment.

Director of Parks and Recreation, Matt Fairbanks stated he has done personal research in terms of hiring for recreation positions because they did not have data themselves. You can narrow it down to south suburban agencies and see a range where your department falls. Overall, it will be beneficial for the city to have some numbers for potential new hires. Matt stated for the staff employed now, it would be beneficial to see where they fall with having certain qualifications and certifications, so goals can be established as well. Past experiences were addressed, whether they were beneficial or detrimental. Overall, David stated we will hire consultants and agencies who have the man power and skill set to complete these jobs; something that our staff does not.

Alderman McGrogan asked for David to provide an example of what the agency would provide us with and table the decision until next meeting.

OLD BUSINESS

UPDATE SECTION 2.16 OF THE PERSONNEL MANUAL

The proposed changes would be discussed in the Recreation Meeting at 7:00 pm tonight.

NEW BUSINESS

None.

PUBLIC COMMENT

None.

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business, Alderman Bylut made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Alderman Key. All in favor.

Meeting adjourned at 7:08 p.m.

https://palosheights.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_03142023-812