Nonunion city workers get 2.5 percent raises

Kalispell’s nonunion employees will see bigger paychecks with the City Council approving 2.5 percent raises for them on Tuesday.

Some employees will see bigger raises than others — a point of contention for two council members who voted against them.

The raises apply to 49 employees and increase city payroll costs by about $72,500 a year. They were factored into the $46.8 million budget adopted for fiscal year 2014 and do not apply to members of the City Council or the city manager.

The raises do apply to the city’s administrators, superintendents and department managers and directors; attorneys, engineers, captains and planners; chemist, treasurer, accountant and records management; and some secretaries and clerks.

Bob Hafferman and Randy Kenyon opposed the raises. Hafferman argued against the percentage-based approach because it means bigger raises for employees with bigger salaries and smaller raises for employees who earn less.

“The gap keeps getting wider and wider and wider between the haves and have nots. This is a bad thing for the country and a bad thing for the employees. Those more in need get the least,” Hafferman said.

“It’s an unfair proposition and I don’t see any will in this council to break it, so I’ll simply vote no.”

Hafferman proposed a flat dollar-amount raise for nonunion employees. “I would like everyone to get the same amount of raise to at least keep the same differential between the haves and have nots,” he said.

Kenyon said he agreed “100 percent” with Hafferman.

Council members Tim Kluesner and Mayor Tammi Fisher asked if raises are merit-based so nonunion employees who do outstanding work are rewarded more. They learned the city has no such system in place and that the raises are awarded regardless of performance.

Employees in Kalispell’s police and fire unions have longevity-based pay provisions built into their contracts. Employees in the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union are the only employees with any merit-based pay provisions, City Manager Doug Russell said.

“That’s part of the discussion with AFSCME and we’re trying to incorporate that for nonunion as well. Right now that is what we hope to bring back for next year, but that has not been in place,” Russell said. “If you do a merit-based program you want a very specific program.”

Kluesner said he wants to see a merit-based pay program. “I’ll give you a yes vote this year and a no vote next year if we don’t have it,” he said.

The 2.5 percent raise is meant to help nonunion employees make up for the 1 percent higher retirement contributions required by the state’s pension reforms. It’s also meant to mirror raises for employees in the city’s collective bargaining units.

“I agree with Kluesner about looking at a merit-based system rather than a flat rate applied to everyone,” council member Phil Guiffrida III said before voting in support of the raise. “I’m always more for merit- and performance-based like is seen in the private sector. But looking at this, a component of this is in response to legislative actions by the state. The rest is a COLA [cost of living adjustment] after a long run of no COLA.”

City officials also are exploring the overall pay matrix for nonunion employees.

“During budget we also talked about the fact that some positions are not properly compensated, some are too high, some are too low, but the whole matrix has to be considered,” council member Wayne Saverud said. “I think that’s part of the merit conversation as well. I will support this tonight, but would hope by next year to have more equity in the workplace.”

Kalispell’s nonunion employees also received 2.5 percent raises for fiscal year 2013, according to city records.

Reporter Tom Lotshaw may be reached at 758-4483 or by email at tlotshaw@dailyinterlake.com.