Minutes 03/21/2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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March 21. 2006 With all full-time employees benefiting from the general wage increases, we have already implemented half of the pay increase with a 2.5 percent general wage increase on January 1 of this year. This budget proposal includes funds for the other 2.5 percent general wage increase effective July 1, 2006. Also in accordance with the committee's recommendation, we are addressing "compression"---whereby some positions and salaries have become misaligned within the compensation system over time. This FY07 budget proposes that 63 percent of the eligible employees will receive compression adjustments according to a methodology approved by the Committee. These adjustments cost in excess of $1.3 million. In another pay dimension, a consulting firm, Springsted, Inc., assisted this committee by conducting a market analysis. As a result of the consultant's analysis, 23 percent of the employees will benefit from market adjustments funded in the FY07 budget. The market addition will make the city's pay scale competitive with neighboring cities. Beyond basic pay and benefits, the City continues to recognize our extraordinary employees through various employee recognition and professional development programs. These valuable programs consist of Employee of the Month, Team of the Quarter, Employee of the Year, Annual Service Award Recognition and the Employee Incentive Program, as well as our Tuition Assistance Program and personnel sponsored training for City employees. For FY07, the City will increase its employee health insurance funding by 12 percent, effective January 1, 2007. The budget also includes a 2.5 percent cost of living adjustment for all retirees in the City of Portsmouth retirement systems effective July 1, 2006. Lastly, we will continue the work of the Employee Pay Advisory Committee during the next fiscal year; in fact, the Committee will develop its 2006-2007 work agenda when it meets again this May. Citizen Engagement and Neighborhood Transformation Citizen engagement and neighborhood transformation is a major City Council theme that fosters community building. We encourage our citizens to become involved, and we seek to establish a variety of networks for citizens to participate and provide information in order to ensure our citizens are well informed. We value our citizens and the "social capital" that Robert Putman describes as the stock of social trust, norm and networks that people can draw upon to solve common problems as the framework we strive to create through citizen involvement and engagement. There are a number of examples of engaging our citizens over the last year. These include: . Hosting three community charettes on the Downtown waterfront, Effingham-High corridor and the Cradock neighborhood, allowing citizens to become fully integrated into every aspect of the planning for the redevelopment of these areas . City Council hosted three community meetings in schools across the City including a Joint City Council-School Board Meeting where both City and school issues were discussed . 11th annual NEAT Summit at Woodrow Wilson High School that was jointly planned by city staff and citizen organizations