PURPOSE:

The purpose of this report is to request City Council approval of the proposed resolutions to adopt a two year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the City and the Burbank Police Officers Association (BPOA), as well as a related equity adjustment for the classification of Police Captain.

BACKGROUND:

Beginning in March, 2005, the City began negotiations with the six bargaining groups.  In June, 2005, the City and the BPOA reached tentative agreement on a two year package.  The BPOA members ratified this agreement and staff is now requesting City Council approval.  Approval of this agreement, as well as the related equity adjustment for the classification of Police Captain, will conclude the first settlement for this year�s labor negotiation process.

For many years, it has been the City�s policy to look at four basic cornerstones when considering compensation issues for its employees:

• The condition of the economy as reflected by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers from April to April, 2005.  This year, that CPI was 4.90%.

• The capacity in the City�s approved budget is another criterion utilized in setting compensation for employees.  

• Commitment to pay for performance is an on-going philosophy for the City.  In order to recruit and maintain qualified employees to serve the needs of the community and citizens it is vital that the City maintain this commitment even in the face of fiscal adversity.

• Equity in the marketplace as determined by market survey is the fourth criteria the City utilizes in setting compensation for employees.  The City  continues to grapple with the ability to pay market wages due to budgetary constraints.  However, based upon the fact that the City has been unable to successfully recruit for the current 12 Police Officer vacancies, despite intensive recruitment efforts, parity within the market place has become a critical issue.

ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSION:

It is within this difficult balance between fiscal responsibility and recruitment/retention issues, that this agreement was reached.  While this increase is slightly above that initially contemplated by the Council, the City is compelled to recommend this proposal in order to address the significant recruitment and retention problems for sworn Police personnel.

The Police Department has been attempting to fill its� vacant positions for over a year. Although some headway has been made, there are still 12 vacant Police Officer positions.  Market competitiveness in a dwindling applicant pool and the on-going successful recruitment efforts of the City of Glendale (offering a base salary of $ 510 or 9.55% over Burbank�s current base salary) have made recruitment a very difficult task.  To address this situation, the City has expanded its marketing efforts and testing periods.  Burbank is offering monetary incentives to new recruits and lateral transfers, as well as a finders� fee to City employees who recruit a successful applicant.

In order to determine market comparability, the City and BPOA used a ten city (Anaheim, Garden Grove, Glendale, Huntington Beach, Inglewood, Long Beach, Pasadena, Santa Ana, Santa Monica, and Torrance) survey.  The survey indicated that the salaries for the City of Burbank had fallen below the total compensation paid to police officers in these survey cities by approximately 10%.  As such, staff is now proposing that the Police Officer salary be brought to market average over the next two years.  To accomplish this task, requires that the City provide a 9.0% salary increase in the first year ($5340 to $5919); a 6.0% salary increase in the second year (projection based on multi-year contracts in the survey cities); and additional increases in Field Training Officer ($199 to $424); Motor ($208 to $495); and Pilot assignments ($390 to $709); as well as P.O.S.T./Educational certificate pay as follows: 

                        Intermediate Post                  $ 238 to $ 296 or 5% of Officer Pay

                        Advanced Post                      $ 464 to $ 533 or 9% of Officer Pay

                        Supervisory Post                   $ 599 to $ 682 or 9% of Sergeant Pay

                        Management Post                $ 979 to $ 1328 or 15% of Lieutenant Pay

                        Associate Degree                $ 25 to $ 50

                        Bachelor Degree                  $ 50 to $ 100

                        Master Degree                      $ 75 to $ 150

These additional assignment/educational pay increases will cost 1.5% for a total two year package of 16.5%.

As in past negotiations, once agreement was reached with the BPOA, the Police Captain salary range had to be re-examined for an equity adjustment to prevent compaction.  A 9.0% salary adjustment for BPOA classifications effective July 1, 2005, will create a significant compaction among ranks that does not encourage promotion or the development of qualified candidates for future upper management roles.  Since the Police Captains have historically received salary adjustments that are at least equal to the BPOA, staff is proposing that the Police Captains receive a 9.0% salary adjustment effective July 1, 2005.  This results in the movement of the Police Captain salary range from $8408 - $10,215 to $9165 � $11,134.

FISCAL IMPACT:

The compensation package of a 9.0% salary increase in Year One, a 6.0% salary increase in Year Two, and a 1.5% increase in assignment/educational pay for the BPOA is a total cost to the General Fund of $2,809,604.  The 9.0% salary adjustment for Police Captain to maintain parity in the ranks is a total cost to the General Fund of $76,080.  Salary increases and equity adjustments were anticipated in the FY 2005-06 budget preparation; however, the funds were not appropriated at the time of budget adoption.  As such, budget amendments are required to appropriate the necessary funds from the Un-Appropriated Fund Balance.

RECOMMENDATION:

Staff recommends City Council adoption of the proposed resolutions approving the Memorandum of Understanding with the Burbank Police Officers Association for FY 2005-07 and an equity adjustment to the salary of Police Captain to maintain internal alignment between ranks.

Respectfully submitted,

Judie Sarquiz

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