{"id":92995,"date":"2019-07-15T00:40:09","date_gmt":"2019-07-15T00:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/city-of-durango-worker-wages-too-low-report-finds\/"},"modified":"2019-07-15T00:40:09","modified_gmt":"2019-07-15T00:40:09","slug":"city-of-durango-worker-wages-too-low-report-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/city-of-durango-worker-wages-too-low-report-finds\/","title":{"rendered":"City of Durango worker wages too low, report finds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"A
A compensation report evaluating more than 150 city positions found that if the city of Durango doesn\u2019t increase salaries for its employees, more will leave and services will suffer.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Durango doesn\u2019t pay its workers enough, and if the municipality doesn\u2019t start paying more soon, residents may see a decline in services, according to a study on city employee compensation.<\/p>\n

Employee turnover \u2013 fueled by lower-than-average wages for city employees, an aging population of baby boomer workers retiring and a new generation of millennial employees who often change jobs after just a few years \u2013 is, in effect, draining city resources, an Illinois-based human resources consulting firm found after an evaluation of 166 city positions.<\/p>\n

The city of Durango employs more than 300 people across almost a dozen departments. About 65% of the city\u2019s approximately $92 million budget is dedicated to personnel services, including salaries and benefits, budget documents show.<\/p>\n

\u201cTurnover costs will typically calculate around 1.5 times the cost of the original position, so turnover will cost an organization more than it would to retain the employee; and may also have an impact to operations that can be felt to its constituents over time,\u201d consultants wrote in the study for the city of Durango.<\/p>\n

Potential impacts would likely be unilateral across city departments, said City Manager Ron LeBlanc. Parks and Recreation mowing crews, for example, may lose employees, meaning the grass in city parks would be cut less often, he said. It could mean fewer city garbage truck drivers, decreasing the frequency of trash collection, he said.<\/p>\n

\"Youssef\"
Youssef<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Mayor Melissa Youssef said she understands entry-level position salaries will be addressed first, hopefully in the 2020 budget. The cost of raising entry-level positions to meet market rates is about $700,000, she said.<\/p>\n

The fact that salaries and benefits make up 65% of the city budget makes the issue a \u201csignificant priority,\u201d Youssef said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially because of implications of not addressing it,\u201d she said, \u201cbecause it contributes to organizational inefficiencies and will end up costing us more.\u201d<\/p>\n

What does it mean<\/div>\n

City Councilor Dean Brookie said the compensation study \u201cis just a barometer, it\u2019s not a gospel. It informs us as a council as to what we can expect in budget and what areas we can improve in,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Brookie\"
Brookie<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The former council requested the compensation study last year. The last report Brookie said he can remember was about four or five years ago; he\u2019s been on council since 2013.<\/p>\n

City leaders need to take a \u201cserious look\u201d at the findings of the report and keep in mind other factors that may be contributing to employee turnover: the cost of housing, low unemployment rates nationwide and higher-paying jobs in other industries or places.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe may have to get really, really serious about housing,\u201d Brookie said. \u201cLike teachers in Telluride \u2013 they have teacher housing. You pay a little bit of your salary, but it makes it tolerable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Baxter\"
Baxter<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Kim Baxter, who was elected to City Council earlier this year, said she needs more information before she can make any decisions about how to address salary issues. She\u2019s curious how city wages compare to private sector salaries in Durango. Where are employees coming from when they\u2019re hired and where do they go after they leave? she asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith one report and one brief conversation, it\u2019s just not enough information,\u201d Baxter said. \u201cI think everybody (on council) was appreciative and agreed that we need to go forward and get more information.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stuck with less<\/div>\n

Consultants compared city salaries to three market averages for similar positions in comparable Colorado municipalities and found, overall, that city of Durango government salaries have not kept pace with the market. They found the typical wage increases for municipal workers in other cities and the rate of inflation, or devaluing of the dollar over time, have each outpaced raises for Durango workers.<\/p>\n

As things stand now, 39% of job titles in the city are below salary minimums, or \u201cthe minimum amount of compensation the organization has deemed appropriate for a position,\u201d according to the report. An additional 20% of positions are \u201cat risk\u201d of falling below salary minimums.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, 61% of Durango employees are making below the average market rate for similar positions elsewhere \u2013 meaning more than half of city workers make less than others doing similar work in other cities. If nothing changes, another 17% of positions will fall below average market rate, potentially bringing the ratio of underpaid employees to 78%, consultants found.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the number of incumbents at or below the average market rate, this might be an indication of not only the salary schedule falling behind market, but that employees are not moving through the salary schedule,\u201d consultants wrote. \u201cThus, annual increases are insufficient to move employees through the salary range.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018A competitive, fair wage\u2019<\/div>\n

Consultants suggested city councilors consider offering municipal employees two chances for a raise each year: once in January to match some market indicator, namely the Consumer Price Index inflation rate; and a performance raise, either on a work anniversary or some time in July.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not wise to consistently increase the schedule (employee salaries)\u201d by less than the rate of inflation or market indicators, consultants wrote. Doing so would make wage ranges \u201cobsolete, requiring more financial resources to put it back in line with the external market.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout a competitive pay structure, and providing employees with a competitive wage, the city will continue to experience greater-than-average turnover rates \u2013 which will ultimately affect the level of service Durango residents have come to expect,\u201d consultants wrote. \u201cEmployees who work for government do not expect to become rich; however, employees do expect a competitive, \u2018fair,\u2019 wage to compensate for the services they provide to the city.\u201d<\/p>\n

bhauff@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Below-average salaries could lead to downward spiral<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":92996,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6224,6039,5805,5736,5735],"tags":[4584,1020,507],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-92995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-city-manager-ron-leblanc","category-durango-city-council","category-durango-city-officials","category-local-news","category-news","tag-city-manager-ron-leblanc","tag-durango-city-council","tag-durango-city-officials"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92995"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92995\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92995"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=92995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}