Survey Says City Workers Need a Raise
Committee Looks at Levels of Wage IncreaseBy Anthony Gaynor, Staff Writer
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A recent pay and compensation study by Archer Associates for the city of Elkins suggests that its employees are not making enough money. The study will be used to assist City Council in determining whether a pay raise is in order.
"Council will have to decide if there will be a pay increase and how much it will be," Elkins City Clerk Phil Graziani said. "The city is looking at other benefits and the cost of those."
The city is calculating an estimate to pay PEIA liability that is now being required to keep on the books. While there is no indication that the city will have to pay the liability, Graziani said it has a plan in place to bank 25 percent of the liability this year, 50 percent next year, 75 percent in the third year and 100 percent in the fourth year.
"This will have an impact on any across-the-board pay increase," Graziani said. "If council decides on a pay raise, they will use the pay and compensation study."
The city paid $12,000 to have the study completed. According to Graziani, it required having each employee fill out paperwork detailing their work duties. Archer Associates then developed a point value for each position and assigned a low, medium and high range of salary.
Elkins City Councilwoman and Personnel Committee Chairwoman Karen Wilmoth, 4th Ward, created a spreadsheet to show the current salary and the recommended medium salary for every position. She then took 90 percent and 95 percent of the recommended salary to use as a starting point for Elkins City Council Finance Committee to discuss any possible pay raises.
"The Finance Committee has to make the decision on how to implement the study," Wilmoth said. "I am advocating on picking a level and bringing everyone to that level. The spreadsheet is to be used as a starting point."
Wilmoth created figures to bring everyone to 90 percent and 95 percent of the recommended salary the study established. According to Wilmoth, the city pays $2,080,906 in salaries annually. The study recommended that increase to $2,426,858.
To bring all employees to 90 percent of the recommended salary, the city would have to pay approximately $115,000 more in salaries. To reach 95 percent of the recommendation, the city would have to pay an additional $227,000.
Wilmoth said she was surprised to see how well the city is doing in comparison to the recommended salary in the study. All employee wages are near the recommendation. According to the spreadsheet, all but two employees are making at least 80 percent of their recommended salary.
According to the spreadsheet, 13 city employees are already making 90 percent or above their recommended salary. Wilmoth said the Finance Committee would have to make a decision on a pay increase for these individuals.
"Finance needs to look at this and develop a four- or five-year plan," Wilmoth said. "The percent recommended would change at the end of each year to compensate with increased cost of living each year."
According a spreadsheet, the study lists 89 employees including part-time workers for which Wilmoth said she made adjustments.
Graziani said that some employees included on the spreadsheet are no longer with the city and Operations Manager Bob Pingley is not listed. He said the spreadsheet would have to be updated, but it can be used as a starting point for City Council to determine whether there will be a pay raise this year and how much it could be.
Finance Committee Chairman Councilman Bob Woolwine, 1st Ward, presented the spreadsheet to the Finance Committee during a special call meeting on Tuesday. He said the committee would discuss it further at its regular meeting at 6 p.m. on Sept. 9 in Elkins City Hall.
