Charter Review Commission recommendations: Compensation hike for council on the table
Cape Coral’s Charter Review Commission will make its recommendations for changes to the city charter at Monday’s City Council meeting that starts at 4:30 p.m. in Council Chambers at City Hall.
Among the recommendations are increased compensation for council members and the mayor based on an established figure rather than per registered voter. The board recommends a salary of $28,500 for members and $32,500 for the mayor.
The nine-member board also is recommending minor changes regarding to the City Clerk, emergency ordinance procedures and petitions to council.
With no public hearings scheduled for Monday’s meeting, council will turn its attention to resolutions revising and adopting the North 2 Utilities Extension Project that is in the design and permitting stage through April 2016. The start of construction is targeted for July/August 2016. Completion of the $7.5 million extension is anticipated by December 2017.
Council also has scheduled a special workshop session for Wednesday, May 6, at 4:30 p.m. at the Nicholas Annex building. The topics for discussion include the employee total compensation analysis and phase 2 of the stormwater master plan by the Public Works Department.
The long studied compensation analysis of wages and benefits, as well as job classifications and pay ranges, aimed to compare the city’s pay and benefits packages with comparable cities in Florida to rectify inconsistencies.
City union and non-bargaining employees had not received across-the-board for seven years during the economic recession until this year. Staff cutbacks during the downturn also caused some employees to be working outside their pay grades in some cases.
The study takes into account direct and indirect compensation for all city employee units to be used in future negotiation sessions.