The city’s long-awaited comparison of pay and benefits – considered the most comprehensive ever undertaken – is not done. But it’s close enough that officials are beginning to draw conclusions about what it would cost to bring the city’s pay scale into line with its goal of paying the 70th percentile of the market average: $2.91 million was the estimate given to council members.

That figure includes both general government and Tacoma Public Utilities, which both have set aside funds for this purpose.

The highest point on the pay scale for 97 of Tacoma’s 179 nonunion job classifications is below the city’s goal, Human Resources Director Joy St. Germain told the council’s Government Performance and Finance Committee on Wednesday afternoon.

Of those 97 job classifications, 53 top out at 15 percent or more under the city’s percentile goal, and another 44 jobs pay between 5 percent and 15 percent below it.

Some 55 job classifications were determined to be at or near the city’s goal, and 17 jobs top out at levels above it.

Both City Manager Eric Anderson and TPU Director Bill Gaines said there are sufficient funds in the budget to realign the pay scales and still pay for regular raises. City departments budgeted for 2.4 percent raises next year and 2.5 percent in 2010, according to information given to the council members.

In addition, the city set aside $3.3 million specifically to address the results of the pay and benefits comparison, and TPU budgeted $3 million for the purpose, Anderson said.

The survey looked at 257 nonunion job classifications, but officials had data for just 179 of those. Fifty-nine classifications had either insufficient or no comparison data, St. Germain said.

The city is using the Seattle consulting firm Milliman Inc. to assist with the study. Similar comparisons were also made for union positions, but Tacoma officials don’t expect to address those findings until next year.

The survey used data from several published reports, as well as custom salary surveys for certain positions. The council’s goal is to compare the city’s pay and benefits with employers that hire away Tacoma workers, and with employers where Tacoma draws its new employees. In some cases, that means looking within the Puget Sound region. In other cases, particularly top management positions, it means looking across the nation.

When it comes to benefits, Tacoma is much closer to its peers, according to the survey. Tacoma pays about $13,600 per year in medical, dental, retirement and life insurance benefits based on a $50,000 base salary, according to the survey. By comparison, the 50th percentile of the market is just under $13,000.

The city began the pay and benefits comparison long before the nation’s economic downturn, and council members did not seem surprised by the findings.

Councilman Jake Fey raised questions about the comparable utilities that were used in the study, noting that many of them are much larger than TPU and several were outside of the Pacific Northwest.

There also was some discussion of how to bring the most severely underpaid positions up to date. Anderson said no employee would receive more than a 15 percent raise in one year, except if it was required to bring the position into the lowest rung of the new pay scale. He said it’s unlikely that scenario exists.

Longevity pay – extra pay on top of a base salary for employees with the most years of service – could be a casualty of the survey. Moving to market-based pay eliminated the purpose of longevity pay, St. Germain said.

Councilman Mike Lonergan noted that longevity pay remains popular among the city’s represented work force, especially the “uniformed service.”

A draft spreadsheet offers some idea of the study’s detailed findings, though officials said they are still scrubbing the data and correcting errors.

The top of the city’s pay scale for the positions of city manager, assistant city attorneys, public works and community relations staff are among those that top out below 70 percent of market average, according to the data.

Job classifications that top out above the market include energy services manger, telecommunications manager and environmental specialist.

A full report, including recommendations, is expected to be given to the City Council on Dec. 2.

Jason Hagey: 253-597-8542

blogs.thenewstribune.com/politics

A preliminary salary survey shows how the top step of the City of Tacoma’s pay range stacks up to its goal of paying in the 70th percentile of private market rate for comparable positions. The numbers reflect only nonunion positions and are still being checked and finalized. Here are the top above-market and below-market job classifications so far.

Positions Most Above Market

City top stepMkt. goal% above/below mkt.

Energy services manager$169,104 $101,878 40%

Project manager$123,739 $86,299 30%

Telecommunications mgr.$161,034 $121,722 24%

Telecom technical admin.$82,701 $63,003 24%

Power analyst$104,374 $81,286 22%

T&D work practices spec.$79,602 $63,690 20%

Telecom operations mgr.$107,786 $86,944 19%

T&D manager$169,104 $143,562 15%

Sr. environmental spec.$91,686 $77,896 15%

Energy services spec. II$65,978 $56,077 15%

Positions Most Below Market

City treasurer$74,984 $120,037 -60%

Power manager assistant$117,499 $185,224 -58%

Finance director$156,894 $225,389 -44%

Government relations officer$105,685 $150,842 -43%

Chief assist. city attorney$123,136 $173,867 -41%

City attorney$156,894 $221,416 -41%

Senior legal assistant$47,549 $66,331 -40%

Arts Commission admin.$74,568 $103,272 -38%

Community/media srvcs. mgr.$90,938 $122,949 -35%

Natural resources manager$103,584 $137,571 -33%