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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRes 2135 - 2026 Compensation PolicyCity of Tukwila Washington Resolution No. 2 (3 C A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF TUKWILA, WASHINGTON, ESTABLISHING A COMPENSATION POLICY FOR CITY OF TUKWILA EMPLOYEES AND REPEALING RESOLUTION NO. 1951. WHEREAS, the City believes that the purpose of a compensation program is to facilitate recruiting, retention, development and productivity of employees; and WHEREAS, the City desires to utilize standardized policies, procedures and processes, wherever possible, for compensating all employee groups, both represented and non -represented; and WHEREAS, the City recognizes that current economic conditions and forecasts, long-range City budget forecasts, recruitment or retention difficulties for certain positions, and position rates for comparable jurisdictions, as well as internal equity considerations, should assist in guiding the compensation of employees; and WHEREAS, the City has made a determination to, when economic conditions and negotiations allow, provide employees with salaries that reflect the average of comparable jurisdictions; and WHEREAS, the City Council will participate in setting negotiation expectations and reviewing and approving represented employee group contracts; and WHEREAS, increases in pay for positions on the salary range will be approved by the City Council for each position classification, as adopted in the City's Biennial Budget and as amended or supplemented from time to time; NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF TUKWILA, WASHINGTON, HEREBY RESOLVES AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. The following compensation philosophy is adopted for the purpose of guiding employee compensation for the City of Tukwila. A. Information to be provided to the City Council. 1. For Represented Employees. A written presentation of current internal and local external public agency salary and benefit trends, including a salary and 2026 Legislation: Compensation Policy Version: 1/6/2026 Staff: T. Croone Page 1 of 3 benefits market survey of comparable jurisdictions, as defined herein, will be provided to the City Council. This presentation must be made to the Council prior to the commencement of negotiations with the bargaining units regarding salary and benefits. The City Council and Administration will discuss represented employee group negotiation expectations, negotiating points, salary and benefit change floors and/or ceilings prior to the beginning of, and at appropriate points during, negotiation sessions. 2. For Non -Represented Employees. A written presentation of current internal and local external public agency salary and benefit trends, including a salary and benefits market survey of comparable jurisdictions, as defined herein, will be provided to the City Council by Administration every other year. Relevant Association of Washington Cities (AWC) data from the previous year's Washington City and County Employee Salary and Benefit Survey, for the comparable jurisdictions, will be used in the salary market survey. B. Compensation Policy. 1. Total Compensation. Where practicable, the total cost of compensation will be considered in addition to base pay, including the value of earned and paid leave, the value of health insurance and benefits, longevity, deferred compensation, education pay, and other cash compensation. 2. Periodically, the City may conduct a salary and benefits market survey to ensure the City's positions are paid appropriately as evaluated against comparable jurisdictions, economic conditions in the area, prevailing wage rates, and/or recruitment or retention considerations for certain positions. Market adjustments to positions on the salary schedule shall be subject to budgetary consideration. 3. All Puget Sound jurisdictions with +75/-50% of Tukwila's annual assessed valuation, using the most current data from County Assessors, will be used to create the list of comparable jurisdictions for evaluation of salary information. A second criteria to be used to refine comparable jurisdictions is to only include cities with their own police department. Comparable jurisdictions will also include the geographic labor market where Tukwila attracts applicants from, to include the Valley Cities (Kent, Renton, Auburn, Federal Way, and Des Moines). to the City will use the same comparable jurisdictions for both represented and non -represented employee groups. 4. For non -represented employees, the City desires to pay the average salary for the particular pay scale, as derived from the comparable jurisdiction data described in Section B.1. For represented employees, the City desires to pay salaries that are competitive to the City's comparable jurisdictions. 5. Positions that are 5% below the market and up to 10°/0 above the market are considered competitive with the market and will receive a market adjustment the year the survey is to occur. Those positions more than 10% above the market will not receive an adjustment during the year the market adjustment is to occur and will warrant further evaluation. Documented justification of potential reclassification will be provided to the Mayor or their designee for review and approval. If the documented justification results in reclassification, any adjustments will be made in alignment with City policy. 2026 Legislation: Compensation Policy Version: 1/6/2026 Staff: T. Croone Page 2 of 3 6. The cost -of -living adjustment (COLA) for non -represented employees shall be based upon the Seattle -Tacoma -Bellevue Consumer Price Index (CPI-W) Average (June to June). Considerations for cost -of -living adjustment will be based upon internal equity with represented groups to determine if an adjustment is warranted. 7. The goal of the City is to establish parity between represented and non - represented employees' benefits. The City desires to provide employee benefits that are competitive to the comparable cities described herein. The City will endeavor to keep increases to annual health care costs under market averages. If costs exceed market averages, adjustments will be made to reduce benefit costs. 8. The goal of the City is to mitigate or avoid salary compression issues where possible. An example of salary compression is when there is only a small difference in pay between employees regardless of their skills, level, seniority or experience. 9. The City Council shall review the compensation policy described herein prior to approval of the Biennial Budget to assess efficacy and make adjustments if warranted. If the Administration determines that a deviation from the above process (in its entirety or for individual positions) is necessary, it will provide justification to the City Council for review and approval prior to the adoption of any process change. Section 2. Resolution No. 1951 is hereby repealed. PASSED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF TUKWILA, WASHINGTON, at a Special Meeting thereof this •Z,k day of I evAto, , 2026. ATTEST/AUTHENTICATED: Andy Yo -Barnett, CMC, City Clerk APPROVED AS TO FORM BY: Kari Sand, City Attorney 2026 Legislation: Compensation Policy Version: 1/6/2026 Ar e apyan, Council President Filed with the City Clerk: / - Passed by the City Council: / —0 6-Z 4, ----Resolution Number: 211c Staff: T. Croone Page 3 of 3