Directors vote to retain Patterson, approve budget

City directors voted to retain City Administrator Phillip Patterson for another year and approved the 2023 budget during the city board meeting Tuesday, Nov. 15.

Patterson will remain as city administrator and will receive a five percent raise. Patterson’s salary will be $150,352. The directors also approved Resolution 64-22 regarding the 2023 budget.

According to Finance Director Christina Petriches, the new budget will see a total revenue of $82.2 million and a total expense of $80.7 million, according to a copy of the budget.

City directors thanked Petriches for her work on the budget. The directors went through four budget workshops going over the proposed budget.

Following the approval of the budget, the directors moved to Resolution 61-22 concerning the 2023 Compensation Plan.

The city partnered with JER HR Group to conduct a compensation study earlier in the year who presented it to the board during the Sept. 6 meeting, according to a staff report prepared by Human Resources Manager Misty McGlothlin on Oct. 12.

Resolution 61-22 was supposed to be voted on during the Oct. 18 meeting but was tabled pending the approval of the 2023 budget.

Changes to the plan include adding a five percent cost of living average (COLA). The compensation plan will add $878,622 to the overall payroll budget and raise the city’s minimum wage to $15.75 per hour, the report states.

Other changes include implementing the new compensation plan from JER HR and implementing a step compensation plan for the fire and police department, the report states.

The human resources manager position will be reclassified to human resources director, the cemetery groundskeeper position

to sexton and assigning one park maintenance position to the cemetery as a technician, the report states.

Lastly, the groundsman position will be reclassified to a lineman position in the electrical department, the report states.

Director Brad Burns asked if the compensation plan includes the compensation options. Patterson told him that was a different discussion. Director David Allen voiced opposition to the plan.

Allen said he has a problem with the human resource manager changing to human resources director and the salary jumping from $70,000 annually to $90,000 annually, which is higher than the city engineer — who has a degree in engineering — and the position of police captain. Allen prefaced his comments by saying they are not a reflection of McGlothlin, just the change in question.

The position of city engineer has a minimum salary of $80,410 and a maximum of $120,615, and the position of police captain has a minimum annual salary of $76,740 and a maximum salary of $115,110, according to a copy of the compensation plan.

For the human resources director the minimum annual salary is $90,342 and a maximum annual salary is $135,513, the plan states.

“It’s just quite a jump that I just can’t support,” Allen said. “I have done HR. I have degrees in it. I have run 1,600 employees amongst many other companies that have had smaller numbers and 14plus years with the city, which I have actually seen two previous HR people give themselves raises. That did not set well.”

Allen also referenced the city clerk position which has a minimum annual salary of $52,642 and a maximum annual salary of $78,963, the plan states.

“Long ago the city clerk was one of the very top authoritative respected figures in the city, and I’m really saddened to see the pay level so low,” Allen said.

Director Mindy Hunt asked if the board could get an explanation as to why that recommendation was made. Patterson said the recommendation of those salary ranges were based on the job descriptions provided by Bruce Johanson, managing consultant for JER HR.

“It relates to what the same or similar positions are being paid in the other cities that we studied and the private sector that was studied,” Patterson said. “The compensation plan is really an analysis of what Mr. Johanson did in his review of the market.”

Hunt asked if the salary ranges were made position by position. Patterson told her yes and added that job descriptions also played a part in forming the salary ranges.

City directors voted 4-2 to approve Resolution 6122 with Director Lesa Rissler absent and Directors Marla Sappington and Allen voting against the resolution.

City directors also heard and approved the following items:

Consent agenda

• Workshop minutes for the Nov. 1 workshop

• Regular meeting minutes for the Nov. 1 city board meeting

• Annual chemical bids for the water-wastewater division with multiple vendors and costs

• Consent in-lieu of annual meeting of the Illinois Water Resource Company

Ordinances

• Placing Ordinance 2225 concerning the rezoning of 409 N. Country Club Rd from A-1 (Agriculture) to C-1A (Light commercial) on its second reading

Resolutions

• Resolution 63-22 regarding the preliminary plat development permit for the 22100-22200 block of Davidson Road

Staff reports

• Deferred compensation update

• Administrator’s report