It’s summer, but beneath the quiet warm-ish days there are important local issues being discussed. The city wants to give not only a 3% raise to all its employees, but wants to add 8% merit pay for almost half of them! (latest unemployment figures for CdA = 11.8%)
Last night there was a meeting about the East Sherman neighborhood problem with the Fresh Start homeless center. The neighbors were told by city councilman Mike Kennedy that they, the citizens, need to monitor the problems, take photos, gather evidence and report to the city. Is that the job of citizens? You can read the Press article here. Your thoughts on this or any other topic…
Here’s something that’s been bugging me for some time: I’ve heard from many business owners that their commercial property taxes have gone way up, even though their property values are down, plus their Unemployment tax rates have quadrupled in the last couple of years. Four times higher! This is no small deal. One very small business told me they’re scraping to pay $4,600 in Unemployment insurance tax just for the past quarter of this year!
Does anyone wonder why the unemployment rate in CdA is up to 11.8% right now?…businesses cannot afford to add more employees, let alone give anyone raises. Oh, but the city can. Plus merit pay.
Comment by mary — July 21, 2011 @ 1:54 pm
Did Fresh Start move to their current location after the 2009 municipal election?
Comment by doubleseetripleeye — July 21, 2011 @ 3:52 pm
If the city’s so called merit pay is based on longevity, perhaps it should be renamed longevity pay.
Comment by Susie Snedaker — July 22, 2011 @ 8:10 am
Mary,
Merit pay or step increases are 5% for a new employee for their first several years. Step increases are part of the employee benefit package. This results in two raises, step increase and cost of living increase, each year.
RE: Fresh Start….I remember hearing that Fresh Start was not wanted in the downtown area and their rental agreement was not renewed along with Cherished One Ministries.
Comment by LTR — July 22, 2011 @ 8:18 am
Thanks for that info, Susie. So, as LTR says, these are not based on performance or “merit”, these are automatic raises for just staying alive and continuing to breathe. Private business can’t do that. An employee has to demonstrate their value to the company before raises can be afforded, it’s just common sense.
Also, on Fresh Start, are you saying that Fresh Start did not sign a 7 year lease, as stated by their leader who was quoted in this week’s Press article?
Comment by mary — July 22, 2011 @ 8:52 am
Longevity is an obsolete compensation practice; has been for at least nearly 40 years. How do I know this?
The Idaho legislature in the mid 70’s adopted a compensation plan developed by Hay and Associates commonly known as the Hay Plan. Longevity had been a component of the previous state pay system. The Hay Plan did away with longevity and developed a point system that measures performance and classifies job descriptions of similar jobs in the private sector and other governments for similar jobs. I was chairman of The Job Evaluation Executive Committee that determined the point allocations for these classifications. The executive committee consisted of members of both the House and Senate and private sector executives. The legislation incorporated the various elements to determine where an employee landed on the grid and the only decision future legislatures had to make was funding to keep the plan current.
I’m disappointed that the City of Coeur d’Alene still uses obsolete considerations such as longevity as part of the pay structure. I didn’t realize they are so behind the times.
Comment by Gary Ingram — July 22, 2011 @ 12:26 pm
Gary, the city of Coeur d’Alene implemented its system in the early 1990s after a study showed their employees’ salaries were well below the region’s average. The eight-step system ensured that the city could implement the salary increases to catch up their pay, and do it over ten years, making it affordable at the time.
Meanwhile, it has worked very well in encouraging employees to stay at the city, knowing they can work to achieve the top of their pay scale within a decade of employment. It has also had the additional benefit of budget savings when new employees come on, generally replacing those who have left at the top of the scale. The 40% savings on new hires is a very good way to manage the budget, especially in these challenging times.
Comment by JohnA — July 22, 2011 @ 1:08 pm
JohnA, There’s a big, huge, important factor missing from your analysis of the city’s employment plan: PERFORMANCE QUALITY!
I knew a woman who got a job with the city…she said, “I’m set for life!”
Comment by mary — July 22, 2011 @ 1:45 pm
If John A. is correct, and he probably is because I think he was a finance director around that time, the city was 15 to 20 years behind the times in 1990. And you know folks, the best reason to continue doing something is because “it has always worked in the past.” Heck this is government and we all know there are never any fresh ideas coming out of its thought processes.
Comment by Ancientemplar — July 22, 2011 @ 3:07 pm
Yep. Like Wendy Gabriel (isn’t she related to a political big dog?) and Kenny Gabriel, right? How much does that husband and wife dynamic duo get paid now John? And what is the multiplier for senior executive benefits?
Comment by justinian — July 22, 2011 @ 6:39 pm
John, the city apparently got caught up very well according the salary disclosures on OurIdaho.com. And it is not forgotten that our city was the only one in Idaho that resisted disclosing the information, which is public record, when the survey was being conducted.
Comment by Gary Ingram — July 22, 2011 @ 8:50 pm
Mary, The rental lease for Fresh Start was not renewed at their previous location near 5th and Lakeside, as well as Cherished Ones Ministries soup kitchen. Word on the street was that they were no longer welcome in the shopping area.
Comment by LTR — July 24, 2011 @ 9:25 pm
The City of Coeur d’Alene had step increases for new employees prior to the early 1990’s. I believe the step increases were every year for the first five years of employment. A new employee can see the pay gap, between new employees and long time employees, almost close after several years. The City has always paid the highest wages amoung all other local government agencies. Their benefits are amoung the best.
I have noticed that wages have grown by leaps and bounds since the early 2000’s. Perhaps John A. can verify when the City changed the step increases from five years to eight years.
Comment by LTR — July 24, 2011 @ 9:45 pm
Excuse me for the incorrect spelling for among
Comment by LTR — July 24, 2011 @ 9:48 pm
The old Fresh Start location was near Fifth Street and Coeur d’Alene Avenue and yes, the lease there was not renewed. This was in 2009. The space has been empty since, though there have recently been some renovations. Clearly it was not a money issue for the landlord. The center moved to the current location in spring or summer 2009, signing a two year lease. The new seven year lease was signed earlier this year, before the issues with the neighborhood came to a head.
Comment by eq72521 — July 27, 2011 @ 2:49 pm
thanks for the info, eq72521. Are you sure the new 7 year lease was signed before all the hubub? Neighbors have been complaining and gathering signatures for quite a while.
Comment by mary — July 27, 2011 @ 2:59 pm
LTR, I’m not sure when the city agreed to the extra three steps but I believe it was negotiated with the bargaining units in the 1990s. I’m sorry but my memory is hazy on that one. I do know the decision was based on the need to catch up to other cities their size in the region. Obviously, with the COLA increases added in over the years, city salaries are very competitive, as is the competition to fill the rare vacancy. But, I believe that is a good thing because the employees know their employer values them. That’s important in any business, public or private.
Comment by JohnA — July 28, 2011 @ 4:10 pm
JohnA wrote, “Obviously, with the COLA increases added in over the years, city salaries are very competitive, as is the competition to fill the rare vacancy. But, I believe that is a good thing because the employees know their employer values them. That’s important in any business, public or private.”
There is the problem. Government is a SERVICE. It is NOT a business. If the parks are clean, send the prisoners back to jail. OH WAIT, you have “
Comment by concerned citizen — July 28, 2011 @ 9:38 pm
Sorry computer glitch.
Anyway, you have “PARKS DEPT EMPLOYEES” sitting around on the time clock. Again, government is a service, not a business. It is NOT for profit and it is DEFINITELY not supposed to grow with the economy. If it did, it should also SHRINK in a bad economy.
Comment by concerned citizen — July 28, 2011 @ 9:41 pm