HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Read Before Packet - 10/5/2021 - Memorandum From Travis Storin And Teresa Roche Re: Councilmember Questions Regarding Agenda Item #21 - Gratitude Pay
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M E M O R A N D U M
Date: October 5, 2021
To: Mayor Arndt and City Councilmembers
Thru: Kelly DiMartino, Interim City Manager
From: Travis Storin, Chief Financial Officer
Teresa Roche, Chief Human Resources Officer
Re: Councilmember questions regarding Agenda Item #21: Gratitude Pay
On Monday, October 4, staff received the following questions regarding Gratitude Pay:
1. What is the purpose of this payment? Is it just gratitude or is it being
used as a morale booster?
The purpose of the proposed payout is to acknowledge the unprecedented
environment that was successfully navigated during the pandemic and the
wildfires of 2020. The staff has been under a pay freeze since the pandemic's
early days, except for employees within the collective bargaining unit and
other low-volume exception requests outlined in the September 9 Council
memo. While the purpose is to express gratitude, executive staff believes this
will also positively impact morale.
2. Are there service areas where this money could be used to alleviate
staffing/overtime constraints?
There are multiple things at play within staffing levels:
The City has a significant amount of vacant positions (currently 158
vacancies in budgeted positions). Now that the hiring freeze has been
lifted, we are actively working to recruit positions. As they are filled, it
will add considerable support to staff. A significant contributor to
current pressures is the nationwide labor shortage.
The City Manager's Recommended Budget also includes 39 proposed
positions for areas which are deemed to have the highest priority and
greatest need.
In compliance with state and federal FLSA standards, once an overtime hour
is worked it is always paid out regardless of budgetary status. Departments
carrying material vacancy savings within their budget are
able to utilize those savings for unbudgeted overtime when warranted by
business need or circumstance.
3. Is this in line with other companies who are expressing gratitude to their
employees through bonuses? Not hazard pay, but gratitude bonuses.
The City has limited information regarding what other companies in the region
have done around gratitude or hazard pay in 2021. In speaking with Colorado
municipalities about hazard or gratitude pay, a number are currently
considering it, and Greeley did a 2% COLA retroactive to March 2021 and is
doing a 2% bonus using HERO funds for essential employees.
Staff has gathered solid information on changes that have occurred within the
municipal market. When proposing the 2021 budget, Executive Staff
recommended 0% pay increases in 2021, largely due to the anticipated
financial pressures of a presumed economic recession in 2021. Earlier this
year, to calibrate this recommendation, we surveyed 17 other Front Range
cities, 100% of whom were also instituting a pay freeze for 2021 at the time of
the survey.
Since that survey of other cities,13 of the 17 have revisited their earlier
decision, instituting some form of pay increase, whether one-time or ongoing,
at an average increase of 2.2% in 2021.
4. What percent of our budget is relying on ARPA funds to close the $15
million gap?
Staff is not currently projecting a budget gap for 2021 or 2022. At this time last
year, budget cuts of $15M were necessary based on the prevailing and
anticipated economic conditions.
The 2022 Budget currently recommends offers totaling $4.1M to come from ARPA
proceeds, of which $1.8M can be considered ongoing, most notably the Police
Services Mental Health Response Team. Total ARPA funding represents 0.75% of
the overall proposed operating budget for 2022
5. Is it correct that the City Manager does not need Council's approval to
appropriate this money? If the City Manager were to appropriate without
Council approval, is this reversible by the Council?
As Council had already appropriated these dollars for personnel expenditures,
the City Manager is legally permitted to spend those funds for this purpose.
However, it was never our intention to do this without Council support which is
why it was a topic brought forward in discussions and subsequently placed on
the Council agenda based on those discussions.
In the case of 2021, roughly $4.3M of personnel savings across all
Funds exist via vacancies, year-to-date August. The proposed administrative action to
award Gratitude Pay ($2.9M) is possible through these vacancy savings on personnel.