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114 <br /> MONDAY, MAY 24, 1999 <br /> <br /> Following a brief break Council then heard a presentation from Mrs. Read on the City's Market <br />Based Pay Plan. Mrs. Read started with a description of the plan, its structure and function, noting its <br />implementation in 1994. She stated that the concept of the plan was to determine as closely as possible <br />through market surveys the market rate of pay for each position in the system, and pay as close to the market <br />rate as the City Manager and Council thought was necessary in order to remain competitive. She then related <br />the process and results of the most recent market survey. Mrs. Read stated that forty-seven positions had <br />been "benchmarked" and included in the survey, and thirty-five employers of similar size with similar types <br />of jobs had been contacted, of which twenty-seven had responded. She stated that this was considered an <br />extremely good retum rate, and that she felt good about the quality of the survey instrument, the <br />benchmarked positions, and the jurisdictions surveyed. Council Member Dallas stated that he did not <br />believe inclusion of the cities of Charlottesville and Lynchburg provided good comparisons. Mr. Cook and <br />Mrs. Read stated that these jurisdictions still helped to balance out the overall group of jurisdictions, <br />however. Mrs. Read then stated that the study looked at how the pay plans average and minimum salaries <br />compared to the market, as well as grade assignments in cases where salary information showed the need for <br />changes beyond a given percentage. Mayor Crabtree then asked how the City's pay plan measured up, and <br />was told that it compared very well to market figures. Mrs. Read stated that the City's average mid-point of <br />salaries was $35,679 as opposed to the average market midpoint of $31,600 in the survey. Vice-Mayor <br />Teague recalled that two years earlier Council had adjusted the entire pay plan by 7%, and observed that the <br />plan was now within market ranges. This, he stated, showed that Council had made a good decision at that <br />time, and Mrs. Read agreed with this statement. Mr. Reynolds added that funds were included in the <br />proposed budget to provide for a 2.95% pay increase for City employees, and that all information on the pay <br />plan study had not yet been received. Mrs. Read continued, stating that she and Mr. Cook had met with all <br />department heads and directors to review the study results, and Mr. Cook stated that these meetings had been <br />very helpful in clarifying and validating the results and information. Council Member Roop asked how <br />many employees under this proposal would receive no pay increase. Mrs. Read replied that the issue at hand <br /> <br /> <br />