2.6 ERMUSR 08-14-2018 Elk River
Municipal Utilities UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING
TO: FROM:
ERMU Commission Wage & Benefits Committee
MEETING DATE: AGENDA ITEM NUMBER:
August 14, 2018 2.6
SUBJECT:
Wage &Benefits Committee Update
ACTION REQUESTED:
Effective August 14, approve by motion the following changes to the compensation plan:
• Change existing vacant Information Technology Technician position at pay grade F8 to
Operational Technology Superintendent at pay grade M7.
• Change existing Executive Administrative Assistant position at pay grade M1 to
Executive Administrative Manager at pay grade M5.
• Add new Communications &Administrative Coordinator position at pay grade 05.
• Close existing vacant Key Accounts Specialist and Purchasing Specialist positions
indefinitely.
• Change existing Billing Specialist, Credit& Collections Specialist, and Accounts Payable
& Payroll Specialist positions from pay grade 03 to 04.
• Change existing Accountant position from pay grade 06 to 07.
• Change existing vacant Lead Bore Rig Operator position from pay grade F9 to F8.
BACKGROUND:
Per the Governance Policy G.2g1 Wage & Benefits Committee Charter and consistent with
Governance Policy G.2g Commission Committees, the committee shall meet on a quarterly
basis. The committee met on May 30, June 27, and August 8 regarding staffing levels,
organizational growth, and succession planning.
DISCUSSION:
The committee has evaluated a number of positions regarding their essential job functions and
compensation plan pay grade.The committee evaluated the essential job functions based on existing
duties performed as well as most effective fit for the position within the organization.The essential job
functions,required knowledge and skills,and minimum certification and experience requirements are
used to determine organizational equity utilizing the Riley,Detlmann&Kelsey Job Evaluation
System.This job evaluation system is then used to quantify and categorize positions within the
ERMU compensation plan. Changes to essential job functions,required knowledge and skills,and
minimum certifications and experience requirements may result in changes to a position's
compensation plan pay group or pay grade.This is the same job evaluation system the city uses.The
committee's evaluation has resulted in the following proposed changes:
Operational Technology Superintendent-A full time Information Technology(IT)Technician
position was approved in the 2018 budget starting January 1. The hiring of this position has been
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on hold as staff works through a cyber security assessment initiative with the city.Based on best
industry practice and the preliminary results of the cyber security assessment initiative,the
committee recommends changing the IT Technician position to an Operational Technology(OT)
Superintendent position. The change from IT to OT relates to focus of expertise on utility specific
operational technology including but not limited to: Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition
(SCADA),National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC) software, meter reading
software and related hardware, Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping technology,
Automatic Meter Reading(AMR) and Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI)technology,
Outage Management Systems (OMS), load management(LM) control software and
hardware, and mobile workforce device implementation. The change from technician to
superintendent is to construct this position with the expertise to oversee operational
technology project management and assist in the development of cyber security policy, best
practice procedures, and employee training. This position would be an assistant to, and report
directly to, the Technical Services Superintendent. This is similar in organizational structure
to how the Assistant Electric Superintendent reports to the Electric Superintendent and how
the Customer Service Manager reports to the Finance and Office Manager. This position
would be FLMA exempt and be part of the leadership team. This position would now be
categorized in the manager pay group pay grade M7.
Executive Administrative Assistant-This position's essential job functions have grown since
creation. The changes include the added responsibilities associated with the data retention policy,
initiative oversight and project management,leadership team responsibilities,and oversight of
branding and communications plans which include website,social media,and external
communications.Additionally,this position will have a minimum requirement to obtain and
maintain a municipal clerk certification.This position title is changing from Executive
Administrative Assistant to Executive Administrative Manager and would now be categorized in
the manager pay group pay grade M5.
Specialists,Accountants,and Communications&Administrative Coordinator—The committee
had been evaluating the vacant Key Accounts Specialist since 2Q2017 and the vacant Purchasing
Specialist position since 2Q2018.Additionally,the leadership team has conducted an evaluation
of these positions' essential job duties and their vacancy impact to the organization in the present
time and looking toward the future.The result of that evaluation was that critical duties had been
effectively reassigned and that the organizational challenges have shifted toward communication
and administration.The leadership team's evaluation and recommendation to the committee was
to close the vacant Key Accounts Specialist and the Purchasing Specialist positions indefinitely;
and in their place,add a new Communications&Administrative Coordinator position.This new
Communications&Administrative Coordinator position would be categorized in the office pay
group pay grade 05.This position would be a direct report to the Executive Administrative
Manager.
The Billing Specialist, Credit&Collections Specialist,Accounts Payable&Payroll Specialist,
and Accountant positions were then evaluated regarding their essential job functions,required
knowledge and skills,and minimum certification and experience requirements.Additionally,the
evaluation took into account the reassigned duties relating to the recommendation to close the
vacant Key Accounts Specialist and Purchasing Specialist positions. The results of the evaluation
affected the pay grades for these four positions. The Specialist positions would change from office
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pay group pay grade 03 to 04 and the Account position would change from office pay group pay
grade 06 to 07.
Lead Bore Rig Operator—Because of the recent proactive change in one of the Forperson position
to a Field Crew Foreperson position,the essential job functions and responsibilities for the vacant
Lead Bore Rig Operator position have been reduced.This position would now be categorized in
the field pay group pay grade F8 instead of F9.
The evaluation and recommended changes were done independent of the recent city
compensation plan update. In review of that update,the changes recommended by the committee
are consistent with results in the city compensation plan update.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The proposed changes result in an approximate $85,000 impact to the 2018 budget. The
vacancies in these and other positions and the anticipated hire dates for vacant positions will
result in approximately$207,000 in 2018 budget surplus. The surplus due to vacancies covers
the cost to implement the proposed changes.Not considering the impact of cost of living
adjustments (COLA) or position grade step increases,the proposed changes would result in a
$3,200 or negligible 2019 budget impact.
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