HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-029 Ordinance amending the City of Yakima Municipal Code Chapter 2.20.130 Tax deferred compensation planORDINANCE NO. 2022-029
AN ORDINANCE amending the City of Yakima Municipal Code Chapter 2.20.130
Management group tax deferred compensation plan
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Yakima finds it is in the best interests of the
City and its residents to amend Chapter 2.20.130 regarding the tax deferred compensation plan
for management group employees; now, therefore,
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY OF YAKIMA:
Section 1. Chapter 2.20.130 of the City of Yakima Municipal Code is hereby amended to
read as follows:
2.20.130 Management group tax deferred compensation plan.
Each management employee shall participate in a tax deferred compensation plan
adopted or approved by the city and shall be paid, in addition to that employee's monthly
salary as established by the compensation plan, deferred earned compensation each
month in an amount equal to three percent of said monthly salary.
(Ord. 2014-023 § 2 (part), 2014: Ord. 2012-42 § 1, 2012: Ord. 95-18 § 1, 1995: Ord. 3504
§ 2, 1992: Ord. 3500 § 1, 1992: Ord. 2873 § 1, 1985: Ord. 2689 § 1, 1983).
Section 2. This ordinance shall be in full force and effect January 1, 2023, after its
passage, approval, and publication as provided by law and by the City Charter.
PASSED BY THE CITY COUNCIL, signed and approved this 4th day of October, 2022.
ATTEST:
Sonya CIa: r ee, City Clerk
Publication Date: October 7, 2022
Effective Date: January 1, 2023
Janice Deccio, Mayor
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BUSINESS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
YAKIMA, WASHINGTON
AGENDA STATEM ENT
Item No. 13.
For Meeting of: October 4, 2022
ITEM TITLE: Ordinance amending the City of Yakima Municipal Code Chapter
2.20.130 Tax deferred compensation plan (non -represented
employees)
SUBMITTED BY: Robert Harrison, City Manager
SUMMARY EXPLANATION:
Reestablishment of longevity pay benefits and 3% deferred compensation for non -represented
employees has been recognized as a competitive necessity to increase the City's ability to attract
and retain experienced management employees. This recognition has been coming slowly over
the last decade, but has accelerated dramatically since 2020 with global changes in workforce
availability. The recruitment and retention of qualified employees has become increasingly
difficult across all fields and employers, and it has been especially challenging to attract and retain
highly specialized, experienced employees. Many of these technical, professional, supervisory
and/or management positions are not covered by collective bargaining groups; and therefore, fall
into the "non -represented" employee group within the City of Yakima.
The City's wage and compensation packages have progressively fallen behind compared to
other comparable agencies, resulting now in substantial hiring challenges. Many advanced
recruitments have been unsuccessful or produced extremely limited candidates. This combined
with employers offering opportunities for 100% remote work, has increased our competition and
further harming the City's recruitment and retention efforts. Compression issues between the non -
represented group and those they supervise have also become significant, negatively impacting
employee morale and retention.
Currently, employees hired after 2012 are not provided the same benefit package as their peers
who were hired prior to 2012 causing a contentious split within the same group. This causes both
discontent and conflicts with the Yakima City Charter, which outlines the tenets of "equal work for
equal pay." Also, due to the compression issues created by PACA (pay and adjustment
compensation) being cancelled over the years, some of the management team receive total
compensation packages that values less than those of their subordinates who are in represented
groups. Realigning the benefit packages to ensure all members of the non -represented group
receive equivalent benefits will not only improve employee equity, moral and most importantly,
retention; but, it will also enable the City to be far more competitive with other employers when
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trying to attract experienced candidates to accept hard -to -fill positions. This change will currently
impact twenty-two individuals with an associated cost of approximately $75,000 in 2023.
ITEM BUDGETED: Yes
STRATEGIC PRIORITY:
APPROVED FOR SUBMITTAL BY THE CITY MANAGER
RECOMMENDATION:
Pass ordinance
ATTACHMENTS:
Description Upload Date Type
D ord redline 9/16/2022 Cotter Memo
D ord clean 9/16/2022 Cotter Memo