FY 23 Budget Q&A #090: What will be the cost to increase salaries in these areas, including estimated FY22 costs if those cannot be absorbed by vacancy savings and projected FY23 costs?
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Budget Question # 090: What programs will see in the highest community impact due to staffing shortages this coming fiscal year and summer (i.e., out of school time, pools). What will be the cost to increase salaries in these areas, including estimated FY22 costs if those cannot be absorbed by vacancy savings and projected FY23 costs? (Councilman McPike)
Response: The Department of Recreation, Parks & Cultural Activities (RPCA) relies heavily on temporary employees to provide programs and services to the community. Current hiring challenges have created staffing shortages for the department which could impact RPCA’s ability to provide the Out of School Time Program summer camp and school year program at full capacity. The staffing shortage also significantly impacts aquatics operations at Chinquapin and the City’s outdoor pools where summer operations may be reduced if each site is not fully staffed. For example, RPCA is short and actively recruiting for 66 positions to provide summer camp and outdoor pool operations for the 2022 summer season.
While a comprehensive compensation study is needed, a shorter-term market analysis shows that a three-step increase in the hourly rate for each seasonal position will allow RPCA to be competitive with neighboring jurisdictions. With this change and the 4 percent overall general pay scale increase proposed in the FY 2023 budget, all pay rates for these positions would meet or slightly exceed comparator jurisdictions. The cost to provide the three-step increase for the remainder of FY 2022 for current seasonal employees and the additional 66 employees needed is approximately $94,000. This amount can be absorbed in the current budget due to existing vacancy savings. The projected cost for the three-step increase for FY 2023 is $285,000. RPCA’s FY 2023 proposed budget includes a $240,000 base budget adjustment for seasonal pay, and therefore an additional $45,000 would be needed. This adjustment is being implemented in FY 2022 to address the need for this summer, and the resulting cost for FY 2023 has been added to the technical adjustments for add/delete.
