Crookston City Hall has begun implementing changes to its City Hall Salary Schedule for several of its employees and department heads after it was approved at the City Council meeting on Monday, February 13. The schedule can be seen below-
The positions that have seen increases in their salaries include the city’s Finance Director, City Accountant, Human Resource Coordinator, Public Works Director and Superintendent, Water Superintendent, Building Official, Executive Administrative Assistant, Parks & Recreation Director and Supervisor, Pool Manager, Police Chief, and Deputy Police Chief. With their increases ranging from a 3.5% increase to a 22.9% increase.
The salary changes are due to the results of the League of Minnesota Cities Wage and Compensation Package study they used to help with the tax levy at the end of 2022.
“We obtained that data by selecting approximately eight cities that we think are comparable to Crookston in terms of population, geography, and nature of services provided. Then we tried to measure the salaries that we paid at these positions relative to the average of those eight cities,” City Administrator Corky Reynolds explained. “Then we tried to get our positions to the average, not the highest or lowest, but an average. For some of these positions, we realized we were low compared to other cities, so there was a wage adjustment for these positions in our city.”
The city had authorized and passed a 3.5% raise to their salaries that was generally applied to all positions within the city in their 2022 budget. This caused some positions to receive the adjustment in addition to a 3.5% increase. Certain positions have not received an adjustment to their salary (City Administrator, Crookston Fire Chief, Information Technology Director, and Community Development Director) as the individuals in those positions stated they were comfortable with their salaries from the previous year and chose to accept that salary level again for 2023.
Nearly all of these listed positions are non-union positions. However, the Crookston Police Chief and Deputy Police Chief positions are a part of the Law Enforcement Labor Services (LELS) union, which the city has negotiated with in the past.
“What we determined to do was raise those two positions (Police Chief and Deputy Police Chief) consistent with the 3.5% increase that the union received and then if there was a wage adjustment in the union contract. That percentage wage adjustment was also applied to the Police Chief and Deputy Police Chief positions to arrive at our figure for their salary,” said Reynolds. “So any wage adjustment that occurred in the union contract, we applied to the Police Chief and Deputy Police Chief not because of the agreement covering these positions, but to be consistent and maintain a consistent salary structure. Internally we applied those adjustments, if any, and percentage increase.”
The city has not made any adjustments to the Crookston Fire Chief’s salary as the contract with the Fire Union hasn’t been settled yet, but there likely won’t be any change to the Fire Chief’s salary as Chief Heldstab had negotiated his current salary with the city when he took the position at the start of the year.
These salaries will be for the entire 2023 calendar year based on the League of Minnesota Cities study and the city’s internal comparisons. This structure will continue into 2024 to give the city a predetermined understanding of what will happen in 2024. But the city made these adjustments to the salary to help make Crookston more competitive with other local cities.
“I attempted to create competitive salaries. We understand that these positions are very important,” said Reynolds. “We want to make payments commensurate with the importance of these positions and that the individuals occupying those positions want to be here with the City at a salary level that makes them competitive with other cities and provides them with a reasonable basis for continuing to work with us.”
The full Crookston Non-Bargaining Benefits Sheet from 2023-25 can be seen by clicking on the link below-
CLICK HERE FOR THE BENEFITS SHEET
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