Government

City manager, city attorney get 4.5% raises as Steamboat trims proposed raises for other employees

Council approved both raises Oct. 13. A week earlier, city leaders presented a 2027 budget that would give employees on the general pay plan a 3% range adjustment plus up to 2% in merit pay, down from up to 4%.

Graphic: 4.5%. Raises for Steamboat Springs' city manager and city attorney, approved Oct. 13. Proposed for the city's general pay plan: a 3% range adjustment plus 0 to 2% merit, down from up to 4%. New salaries $255,398 and $244,577.52.

Key points

On Oct. 13, Steamboat Springs City Council voted 5-0 in open session, after a closed session on performance reviews, to raise City Manager Tom Leeson's and City Attorney Dan Foote's pay by 4.5% each. Human Resources and Risk Director Tasha Murphy said that brings their salaries to $255,398 and $244,577.52, according to the city's video.
The city's proposed 2027 budget, presented to council Oct. 6, would give employees on its general pay plan a 3% range adjustment plus merit raises of 0% to 2%, down from up to 4%, or 3% to 5% before other adjustments, by the Independent's calculation. The officials' 4.5% is near the top of that range.
Range increases for sworn police and firefighters would be halved, to 1.5% and 2.5%, while step increases of 5% to 7% continue for those not at the top of their ranges.
A city staff report says council removed its 2027 CPI salary adjustments for one year, about $4,000.
The records don't show when the officials' raises take effect; the budget's second reading is set for Nov. 10.

Steamboat Springs City Council voted Oct. 13 to raise the pay of City Manager Tom Leeson and City Attorney Dan Foote by 4.5% each, a week after city leadership proposed scaling back raises for other city employees to help balance the 2027 budget.

The proposed budget was presented to council at its Oct. 6 budget retreat. For employees on the city's Labor Trades, Professional, Management and Civilian pay plans, shown as the "General Pay Plan" in the city's retreat presentation, it pairs a 3% adjustment to pay ranges with merit raises of 0% to 2%. City leadership cut that merit range in half, from the previous practice of 0% to 4%, the city's budget letter says. That puts those employees' raises at 3% to 5% before any position-specific market adjustments or grade upgrades, by the Independent's calculation.

The officials' 4.5% falls near the top of that 3% to 5% range. The records the Independent reviewed don't show when the officials' raises take effect; the other employees' raises are part of the proposed 2027 budget.

Chart: the city manager's and city attorney's 4.5% raises compared with the 2027 proposal for the city's general pay plan, a 3% range adjustment plus 0% to 2% merit, or 3% to 5% by the Independent's calculation. The 4.5% mark sits near the top of that range.

Sworn police officers and firefighters are paid on separate plans with step increases. For them, the proposal halves range increases, from 3% to 1.5% for police and from 5% to 2.5% for fire, so the city can keep step increases of 5% to 7% for those not already at the top of their ranges, the city's budget letter says. The letter says those step increases are "in addition to the market shift."

Chart: what the city proposed trimming for 2027. Maximum merit raise on the general pay plan, 4% under previous practice to 2%. Sworn police range adjustment, 3% to 1.5%. Firefighter/EMT range adjustment, 5% to 2.5%. Step increases of 5% to 7% continue for police and firefighters not at the top of their ranges.

The votes

Both motions passed 5-0, according to the city's video of the meeting. Hearing no discussion, the council president called the first vote; the second motion went straight to a vote.

After the votes, Human Resources and Risk Director Tasha Murphy told council the raises bring Leeson's salary to $255,398 and Foote's to $244,577.52. That makes the raises worth about $11,000 a year for Leeson and about $10,500 for Foote, by the Independent's calculation.

The posted agenda listed one executive session, on "the City Manager and City Attorney Employee Evaluations and the Municipal Judge contract." It listed no separate item for a pay vote. The agenda's standard language says council "may take action on, and may make a decision regarding, ANY item referred to in this agenda, including, without limitation, any item referenced for 'review', 'update', 'report', or 'discussion.'"

Council went into the closed session after a short break set to end at 6:42 p.m. and returned to open session at 9:26 p.m. The session also covered the municipal judge's contract, on which council took no action that night. The agenda had set aside two hours, and it notes that its times are approximate and may run longer or shorter without notice.

Both votes were taken in open session. Before them, the council president read the standard statement asking anyone who took part in the closed session, and believed it had strayed from its stated topics or broken the Open Meetings Law, to say so for the record; no one did, according to the video.

How the city explains its pay decisions

Murphy described the city's approach as "pay for performance." She said the city reviewed range movement, merit and possible market adjustments using annual benchmarking data from its independent compensation consultant, and that the review covered both positions, according to the video.

The budget letter says leadership proposed the cuts after reviewing personnel costs and the city's requirement to bring a balanced budget to council. It says the choices were judged "less impacting in both the short and long-term when compared to other potential options considered," though the approach "may put us somewhat behind for future benchmarking analyses for all pay plans." The letter also says about 10% of job profiles were recommended for an upgrade to a higher pay grade based on market data.

A staff summary of budget changes made after the retreat, prepared for the budget's first reading Oct. 20, does not mention the merit or range proposals. It lists $5,937 in "small personnel corrections" and says council "removed its 2027 CPI salary adjustments, decreasing expenditures by approximately $4,000," listed in an attached table as "City Council Salary CPI One-Year Elimination."

Timeline: Oct. 6, proposed 2027 budget presented at the budget retreat. Oct. 13, closed session, then two 5-0 votes giving the city manager and city attorney 4.5% raises. Oct. 20, budget first reading; the staff summary of changes doesn't mention the pay proposals and lists council's one-year removal of its own CPI salary adjustment. Nov. 10, budget second reading.

The Independent is asking the city for the amended employment agreements, the two officials' salaries before the votes, when the raises take effect and which council members voted on each motion, and will update this story with any response.

What's next

Council's tentative agenda for Tuesday, Nov. 10, lists the second reading of the ordinance approving the 2027 budget, which carries the proposed raises for other employees.

Sources: the City of Steamboat Springs' Oct. 13 council agenda and meeting video; the Oct. 6 budget retreat packet, including the 2027 budget letter and the retreat presentation; the Oct. 20 first-reading staff report; and the Nov. 10 tentative agenda.