HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/27/2025 - Meeting Minutes
Minutes Meeting
Citizens’ Compensation Advisory Committee
January 27, 2025
Members Present: Brandon Dew (Chair)
J. Clair Baldwin (Vice-Chair)
Leandro Tane
Casey Lund
Mike Terry
Tia Larsen
Members Excused: Jeff Worthington
Staff Present: David Salazar, Compensation Manager
Michael Jenson, Senior Compensation Analyst
Lori Gaitin, Human Resource Program Manager II
Penny Lopez, Human Resources Technician
Guests: Zachary Jeppson, Firefighters’ Local 81 (IAFF)
A recording of these proceedings is on file and available by request from the SLC- HR
department.
Meeting Open & Welcome: Chair Brandon Dew called the meeting to order and
established a quorum with enough members present.
Review & adopt Approval of Minutes: The January 13, 2025 meeting minutes will be
presented for approval by the Committee at our next meeting on February 10, 2025.
Public comment: None
Presentation of additional 2024-25 local area benchmark market pay analysis,
including Fire and Police benchmarks – David Salazar, Compensation Manager, and
Michael Jenson, Senior Compensation Analyst
Michael started the discussion by recapping the differences in our comparisons for each
workgroups and sought clarification from the committee, where necessary, on the
evaluation methodologies to be used this year.
Non-representative Summary
A question was posed to the committee on how they would like the salary comparison to be
made for this workgroup. In prior years, the evaluation has been for Salt Lake City current
actual employee wages from January, of the given calendar year, to be compared against
the Market salary wages as of January. The discussion had by the committee reviewed
whether this is appropriate given that any approved salary increases by the City Council
would not be implemented until July of the same year. So as to not start the new fiscal year
already lagging the market, the committee’s desire is to age the market salary data to the
point in time in which salary increases would be implemented. This will allow the City to at
least meet the market when starting the new fiscal year if adjustments are made. The
committee determined the following high-level methodologies are desired for comparison
for the Non-Represented workgroup:
• Current Salt Lake City medium wage vs Market median wage (50th Percentile)
• Comparison timeframe
o SLC – Current wages as of January 2025
o Market – Aged wages as of July 2025 (3% aging factor applied from effective
date of salary survey)
AFSCME Summary
The main difference for the AFSCME workgroup is that the Salt Lake City wage used for
comparison is the top rate of the negotiated wage schedule against the market median
wage (50th percentile). In prior years the evaluation was against the top rate of the current
fiscal year (January) against the market wage in January.
A similar question, regarding comparison methodology, was posed to the committee
regarding the AFSCME summary and how to most appropriately compare against the
market. Should the comparison be the SLC FY26 top rate (new fiscal year negotiated rates)
to the market wage aged to July?
The committee determined the following high-level methodologies are desired for
comparison for the AFSCME workgroup:
• FY26 Salt Lake City top rate vs Market median wage (50th Percentile)
• Comparison timeframe
o SLC – Negotiated top rates as of July 2025
o Market – Aged wages as of July 2025 (3% aging factor applied from effective
date of salary survey)
Public Safety Summary
The final comparison workgroup reviewed was for Public Safety which includes our sworn
Fire and Police related jobs. A custom salary survey was conducted by the Compensation
Team in HR in order to gather as accurate, and current, salary data as possible. As
determine by the committee last year, from the City Council Resolution #20 (from 2023),
our focus for comparison is against the “top of market wages by public entities for such
occupations in the State of Utah.”
Data summaries from the custom salary survey were reviewed as follows:
• Entities surveyed - 26
• Responses Received - 17
• Response rate – 65%
Utilizing the committee’s prior year evaluation methodologies, the entities considered for
comparison were limited to those that had 90 or more sworn employees (Fire or Police).
From there, the highest paying employer was selected as the comparator for each
classification and for both the entry rate and top rate. The following are the results of which
entities were surveyed, met the threshold of 90 or more sworn employees, and was the
highest paid entity for each evaluation breakout.
FIRE Participants:
DRAPER, FARMINGTON, LAYTON, LEHI, MURRAY, OGDEN, OREM, PARK CITY FIRE DEPT,
PROVO, SANDY, SOUTH DAVIS METRO FIRE AGENCY, SOUTH JORDAN, SOUTH SALT LAKE,
STATE OF UTAH, UNIFIED FIRE AUTHORITY, WEBER FIRE DISTRICT, WEST JORDAN, WEST
VALLEY
FIRE Participants (90+)
OGDEN, PROVO, SANDY, SOUTH JORDAN, UNIFIED FIRE AUTHORITY, WEBER FIRE
DISTRICT, WEST JORDAN, WEST VALLEY
FIRE – Entity with Highest Rate
EMT
Entry Top
SANDY WEBER FIRE DISTRICT
Paramedic
Entry Top
OGDEN OGDEN
Engineer
Entry Top
WEST VALLEY PROVO
Captain
Entry Top
SANDY WEST JORDAN
Battalion Chief
Entry Top
SANDY WEBER FIRE DISTRICT
POLICE Participants:
BOUNTIFUL, DAVIS COUNTY, DRAPER, FARMINGTON, LAYTON, LEHI, MURRAY, OGDEN,
OREM, PROVO, SALT LAKE COUNTY, SANDY, SOUTH JORDAN, SOUTH SALT LAKE, STATE OF
UTAH, SUMMIT COUNTY, TAYLORSVILLE, UNIFIED POLICE DEPARTMENT, UTAH COUNTY,
WEBER COUNTY, WEST JORDAN, WEST VALLEY
POLICE Participants (90+)
OGDEN, OREM, PROVO, SALT LAKE COUTY, SANDY, STATE OF UTAH, UNIFIED POLICE
DEPARTMENT, WEST JORDAN, WEST VALLEY
POLICE – Entity with Highest Rate
Officer
Entry Top
SALT LAKE COUNTY STATE OF UTAH
Sergeant
Entry Top
WEST VALLEY STATE OF UTAH
Lieutenant
Entry Top
WEST VALLEY WEST VALLEY
Commander
Entry Top
SANDY STATE OF UTAH
The committee determined the following high-level methodologies are desired for
comparison for the Public Safety workgroup:
• Current Salt Lake City Entry and Top step vs Market Highest Entry and Top step
• Comparison timeframe
o SLC – Current steps as of January 2025
o Market – Current steps as of January 2025 (Gathered through TechNet,
Custom Survey, and/or published step plan for each entity)
Discussion of topics and/or recommendations to be included in the Committee’s 2025
annual report, including but not limited to: Local area benchmark market data & analysis
David Salazar asked for recommendations of topics to include in the 2024-25 salary budget
report deemed relevant by the Committee. The committee determined that recruitment and
turnover information, even if included as supplemental in an appendix, would be relevant to
include in the report. This data previously gathered, and that will be provided for this year
includes the recruitment statistics and turnover data for Fire and Police.
Unfinished business: None
Clair Baldwin made a motion to adjourn the meeting, which was seconded by Brandon
Dew. The motion was approved unanimously.
Next meeting date: February 10, 2025, 3:30-5:00 PM
Adjourn Meeting: Meeting adjourned at 4:45 p.m.