The Mountlake Terrace City Council reviewed findings of the 2023 salary and benefits survey for non-represented employees and approved an agreement with the City of Edmonds during its Thursday meeting.

Deputy City Manager Carolyn Hope presented the findings of the salary survey, the first for Mountlake Terrace employees in about 15 years. She explained that the city has done cost of living adjustments (COLA) over the years, but not surveyed salaries of other organizations.

“Those are not a salary survey, and they are not a salary adjustment based on the market demand,” Hope said of the COLA.

The survey showed position salaries for city employees ranged from -0.9% to -38.3% below average. The only positions not below average were capital projects manager at +1%, recreation specialist I and II at +4.8%, senior planner at +2%, and student intern at 5.4%.

Hope explained that many things have contributed to job vacancies, including COVID-19-related disabilities and deaths, , retirement rates and drops in immigration have contributed to job vacancies. Half of those who immigrate to the U.S. have bachelor’s degrees, she noted.

“When we have more job openings than workers, it creates a stress on wages,” Hope said. “It causes wages to go up.”

She explained to the city council that currently, workers are in high demand in Mountlake Terrace, making wages more competitive.

The survey also showed Mountlake Terrace had a high employee turnover rate in 2022 and 2023. Off the over 30 employees lost last year, 22 “just quit, and that’s pretty significant,” Hope explained.

“And this year, we’ve already had more than 11 folks resign and five retire,” Hope said. “So, this is something to keep in mind. We’re really, as you know, we’ve been stressed on filling positions.”

It also takes longer to fill job openings. Hope said that a national survey conducted by Robert Half found the average time to hire for a position was 77 days, and some positions stretch well beyond that.

Councilmember Laura Sonmore noted that findings were given to employees before the city council could see them, and asked why.

“The employees are very frustrated,” Hope replied. “There are many employees who probably won’t stay with us if they don’t have any significant salary change.”

Employees were promised a salary survey last year that “didn’t go well,” Hope said, and as a result the council authorized funding for a different salary survey. “That salary survey didn’t follow any different methodology and didn’t come up with any significantly different results,” she explained.

Mountlake Terrace City Manager Jeff Niten added that the information could have come to the council first. But even if it did, it would have still been published and available for employees before the council saw it.

Hope assured Sonmore that no promises were made to the employees regarding what action the council would take with the information.

“We understand that this is a huge lift,” Hope said. “But there’s also been years and years of not looking at the salaries in this way. So, we are in an unusual situation.”

“And that’s one of the reasons our budget has been balanced, and a lot of cities are not having as balanced budgets as they want,” Sonmore responded. “So that’s why I’m just trying to tell the council to proceed with caution and really listen to it.”

Councilmember Erin Murray said that from her perspective, “the labor market is the labor market.”

“We are competing for talent with our neighboring cities, whether we like it or not,” Murray said. “I don’t think we are telling employees anything that they don’t already understand.”

“I think our attrition rates and unfilled roles are incredibly clear,” Murray added.

The survey compared Mountlake Terrace positions to parallel duties in 10 cities based on population size, demographics, services offered, growth and revenue.

Potential solutions and a six-year financial forecast will be brought to the council at a future meeting.

Among other items at the work session, the council for a second time approved the interlocal agreement with the City of Edmonds for Ballinger Park.

The city council initially approved the agreement at the Aug. 21 meeting. Still, some items were changed at the Edmonds City Council meeting on Sept. 19. Those changes have been approved, so the item was resubmitted and approved by the Mountlake Terrace council at Thursday’s meeting.

The City of Edmonds agreed to commit $200,000 to the Ballinger Park project to allow their residents better green space and waterfront access. This brings the total funding to almost $1.5 million.

“People of cities [like] Bothell, Seattle, anywhere else, they really don’t care where those amenities are, and they’re going to go there,” Recreation and Parks Director Jeff Betz said. “This is a good way to utilize resources effectively.”

The termination date of the interlocal agreement is Dec. 31, 2025. Payment will be made upon substantial completion of the project, which begins in the summer of 2024.

The city council’s next scheduled meeting is Monday, Oct. 2. It will begin at 7 p.m. in Mountlake Terrace City Hall, 23204 58th Ave. W., Mountlake Terrace. To attend the meeting online, visit zoom.us/join and enter meeting ID 844 1833 2151 and passcode 98043.

To listen via telephone, call 1-253-215-8782 and enter the same meeting ID and passcode.

You also can view livestreamed meetings and past video recordings at www.youtube.com/cityofmlt.

You can see the complete agenda here.

— By Rick Sinnett