Commission Meeting Minutes

Mayor Pro Tem Kussard asked if any of the Commissioners had anything to report.

Commissioner Vincent stated he had two items to talk about. He asked if there had been any progress on the non-salaried pensions that he had mentioned previously. He asked if it will be moving forward or if it is a dead subject.

Commissioner Kussard stated she will be bringing this subject up later and will suggest that the Commission hold a workshop to discuss salaries and other items.

Commissioner Vincent stated he has a problem with the budget and that it is inaccurate. He stated he will challenge the budget in the courts as it has false statements in it. He stated that on page 8, it states the Town will be giving a cost of living increase of three percent. Commissioner Vincent stated he has checked everywhere and cannot find any cost of living increase other than 1.2% for Social Security by the U.S. government. He stated it should not be called a cost of living increase in the budget as there is no supporting documentation for this figure. He asked that it be called something other than cost of living, such as a raise.

Ms. Kollgaard asked the Commissioners for a consensus of whether they wanted staff to change the wording from cost of living to something else.

Commissioner Hannan stated he was in favor of calling it a cost of living increase.

Mayor/Commissioner Richards stated he saw no problems with it being called a cost of living (COLA) increase. He stated the budget has always included a COLA and/or a merit increase. He stated the COLA figure is just an estimate.

Mayor/Commissioner Richards asked if there was going to be a workshop for the compensation study. He stated he is not in favor of the recommendation regarding a 7.5% brackets each year as presented in the study.

Ms. Kollgaard stated that could be further discussed at the workshop. She stated the 7.5% is the difference on the midpoints of the salary ranges.

Commissioner Vincent explained that he only wants the verbiage changed from cost of living to something else such as a raise because he stated a 3% COLA is not supported. He reiterated that he does not care that there is a 3% increase for the staff; just do not call it a cost of living increase.

Commissioner Holden made a motion to change the wording to 1.2% cost of living and 1.8% raise in the budget. This motion died for a lack of a second.

Mayor/Commissioner Richards asked again if there was going to be a workshop for the compensation study to put it to rest one way or another.

Mayor Pro Tem Kussard stated she was going to speak about this in her comments. She addressed comments that have been made at previous meetings regarding hiring an outside candidate for the Town Manager position. She stated she feels this needs to be discussed further before proceeding with hiring a recruitment firm as she feels that if there is an internal candidate interested in the position, that should be taken into consideration along with any other candidates. She stated she would like to put any advertising for an RFP to hire a recruitment firm on hold until the Commissioners have a workshop to discuss both the compensation study and the recruitment of a Town Manager. Mayor Pro Tem Kussard noted that Commissioner Vincent was not present during the workshop held to discuss options for recruiting for the Town Manager position, and was unable to give his input.

Mayor Pro Tem Kussard pointed out that the Town has already spent a significant amount of money on a salary study so the Town can remain competitive with cities of a similar size to retain and recruit employees. She stated the Town could also potentially spend another $25,000 to hire an outside search firm for the Town Manager position. She stated tax payer money should be spent wisely. She noted that the Commissioners have all been retired for many years and should not compare what salaries and job qualifications were back then compared to what employees are now being paid or what the expected qualifications for those jobs are today. She stated she would like to have a workshop to discuss both the salary study and the recruitment of a Town Manager.

Commissioner Vincent stated he was in favor of having a workshop. He commented that the Town should keep Ms. Kollgaard on as Town Manager and separate the jobs of Town Manager and Town Clerk, and just hire a Town Clerk.

Commissioner Holden stated the Commissioners made a decision during the teleconference meeting with the representative of the Range Riders to hire a recruitment firm and they should stick with it.

Mayor/Commissioner Richards stated that the Commission deliberated on this and he originally felt that staff could handle the recruitment process, but then he changed his vote and agreed to hire a recruitment firm to take advantage of their expertise as they would vet the candidates.

Commissioner Hannan agreed with Commissioner Holden and Mayor/Commissioner Richards to proceed with advertising for a recruitment firm.

Mayor Pro Tem Kussard asked how the Commissioners felt about having a workshop regarding the compensation study after having spent $14,000 to have it done.

Ms. Kollgaard noted that the Commissioners would not have to act on all of the recommendations in the study; they could accept part or none of the recommendations or revise the recommendations to their liking. She stated that as far as the criteria that the firm used, each Commissioner was sent the list of cities that were used for comparison, and she received responses from a couple of Commissioners whereby cities were requested or deleted.

Commissioner Holden stated that he feels this study is out of whack with the private sector.

Mayor Pro Tem Kussard disagreed; stating that the education, qualifications, and skill of a Town employee position cannot be compared to the private sector.

Commissioner Holden stated that if he attended a workshop, he would not be in favor of accepting the recommendations of the study.

Commissioner Vincent agreed with Commissioner Holden’s last statement regarding the workshop.

Mayor/Commissioner Richards commented that he prefers to continue to give employees raises on the merits of their work rather than push employees into other pay ranges just because of a study. He stated he feels that employees are being paid equivalent to others in this area.

Commissioner Hannan stated he agreed with what the compensation study firm presented to the Commission as they are professionals. He stated the Commission does not have to accept their recommendations, but he would like to have closure on it tonight. He stated he is against a workshop.

Ms. Kollgaard clarified that a vote on whether to accept the recommendations of the compensation study would have to be put on a future meeting agenda.

Mayor Pro Tem Kussard asked that this be put on the next Commission meeting agenda.