Requested Agenda Date:
12/10/2024
Requested Agenda Title:
Title
Public Hearing to Receive Comment on a Proposed Compensation Increase of 3.5% in the 2025 Salt Lake County Budget for Certain “Executive County Officers,” as Defined and Required by Utah Code Ann. Section 17-16-14(2)
Body
Requested Agenda Item Description: The 2024 Utah Legislature enacted provisions, codified at Utah Code Ann. Section 17-16-14(2), requiring that “Before a county legislative body may adopt a final budget or a final amended budget that includes a compensation increase for an executive county officer, the county legislative body shall . . . hold a public hearing on the compensation increase.” That same section provides that in Salt Lake County, ‘executive county officers’ are “individual(s) appointed by the county executive to a position requiring the advice and consent of the county legislative body, as provided by county ordinance.” County ordinance, at Section 2.06A.020(A)(4), provides that “the Mayor’s appointment of deputy mayors, associate deputy mayors, and department directors shall be subject to the advice and consent of the council,” which means that deputy mayors, associate deputy mayors, and department directors appointed by the Mayor are the relevant ‘executive county officers’ for the purposes of the hearing requirement of Utah Code Ann. Section 17-16-14(2). The Mayor’s proposed 2025 budget and the Council’s recommended 2025 budget both provide a salary adjustment in the amount of 3.5% for employees in an appointed status, including “executive county officers.” This amount is identical to the salary increases provided to the county’s other employees and elected officials in the Council’s recommended 2025 budget. Under County ordinance, the Council sets the salaries of elected officials and approves a pay plan for the County’s merit employees, but it does not approve specific salaries for appointed employees, which are instead “fixed by the elected officer appointing the [employee] consistent with the approved budget of the office” (Section 2.12.080). If approved in the final 2025 Salt Lake County Budget, the Council’s allocation of a 3.5% increase for appointed employees, including “executive county officers,” is an authorization of personnel resources, and should not be understood as fixing the salaries of those appointed employees. Council staff has provided a list of ten positions that are occupied by “executive county officers” and the proposed amounts of additional compensation (corresponding to a 3.5% increase) that the Council would allocate for the Mayor to provide those officers if approved by the Council in the final 2025 Salt Lake County Budget, which has been noticed for consideration at a separate, 6:00 pm budget hearing later this evening. The purpose of this separate and earlier hearing is to give the public an opportunity to comment on the proposed compensation increase, separate from the regular budget hearing, as Utah statute requires.
requestedaction
Requested Action: Discussion - Informational
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presenter
Time Needed: 15 MINS
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Is this Item Time-Sensitive and/or Requesting a Time-Certain? Yes and I will send the request in writing
Requesting Staff Member: Mitchell Park, Legal Counsel, Council Office.
Are Supporting Documents Needed for this Agenda Item Request? Yes