Shoreline City Council Suspends Staff COLA Increases and Salary Increases for 2011 Budget Pending Further Study

On September 13, the Shoreline City Council passed a motion suspending implementation of any increase in the 2011 cost of living adjustment and suspending increases related to the annual salary survey until it has the opportunity to review the City’s compensation policies.

Every year, the City Council reviews the City’s compensation policies during the budget review and adoption process. However, it has been several years since the City Council has examined these policies in detail and either affirmed or modified them.

The goal of the City’s compensation policies is to attract and retain a well-qualified and exceptional work force while maintaining fiscal responsibility and discipline. The policy is to pay at the median of comparable agencies. To accomplish this, every year the City surveys 1/3 of its classifications to evaluate if the salary ranges are at the median of the comparable agencies. If a salary does not fall within a specified range, the City Council may approve any adjustment as part of its annual budget review. Only the City Council can approve salary adjustments as a result of the salary survey.

Current Council policy sets the annual cost of living Adjustment (COLA) increase to an amount equal to 90% of the June to June Seattle area CPI. There was no COLA adjustment for City employees in 2010 and there is not a recommended COLA for employees in 2011.