Kreller makes all three suggestions at July 26 budget meeting
Rest of council, HR director rebuff suggestions
MANDEVILLE — District I Councilman Dr. Skelly Kreller put himself on “an island” — as District III Councilwoman Jill McGuire put it — when he raised three separate questions during the City Council’s July 26th special budget meeting where the focus was on the recent recommendation by the Municipal Employee and Municipal Police Employee Service Board for a 5.8-percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for the next budget year.
During the meeting, the City Council was reviewing the budget, line item by line item, which is the purpose of these special budget meetings. However, much of the talk this time focused on the Civil Service board’s COLA request and the pay scale overhaul of 2022, where most city employees saw significant raises.
The council members took turns asking Director of Finance Kathleen Sides about budget projections and having to adjust for the 5.8-percent request. Mayor Clay Madden had put in his budget a 2.7-percent COLA in light of the pay scale overhaul and 5.9-percent COLA last year.
Kreller raised the question of a potential pay freeze for 2024 to help the City cope.
“With the salary survey we brought everybody up and they’re getting paid very nicely and now with this high COLA, now I’m talking about the 5.8, OK, let’s just say that. Can we think about a possible salary freeze for 2024? And put a freeze on the salaries,” he suggested.
But Director of Human Resources Johanna Anderson pointed out that civil service rules wouldn’t allow an all-out freeze.
District I Councilwoman Rebecca Bush chimed in: “I’m not sure I’m conformable with that.”
Kreller reminded the Council that a salary freeze was implemented “several years ago,” but Councilman at Large Rick Danielson said that it was only a freeze for directors’ salaries.
Related: Watch highlights from the July 26th special budget meeting…
Kreller then said he was only referring to director pay, not everyone.
However, Bush told Kreller that a lot of harm could be done if they start talking about freezes so soon after the Council gave much-ballyhooed across-the-board raises to all personnel.
“Look, the good will we have attained in the past year, you just, that all goes down the drain. … I mean I think you have to … continue to strive to be an employer of choice. I want to attract top directors as well,” she said.
Kreller wrapped up the discussion by saying, “I’m just throwing this out. I ran a business for 38 years and I assure you, some of these increases, I would have never done that, because I could not even afford that. And we are getting to a point here we need to consider down the line.”
But about a half an hour later into the meeting Kreller raised the issue of City Council compensation, which is currently set at $1,200 per month each, suggesting he’d like to see an increase.
“I’m thinking about that you know as a retiree. You know, maybe we should adjust that a little bit,” he said.
Sides said that increases to council pay don’t take effect until the next City Council after they are adopted by ordinance. The next election is coming up in 2024. Council member pay was last adjusted four years ago from $1,000.
Kreller said, “I would rather do it, you know, prior to an election.”
McGuire said laughingly, “Have fun with that one, Dr. Kreller. You’re on an island on your own, my friend.”
Toward the end of the meeting the discussion turned to the retirement benefit that City of Mandeville employees receive. The City pays 100 percent of its employees’ retirement system contributions. The City of Covington started doing the same about two years ago for its employees.
Kreller suggested Mandeville should look at asking its employees to contribute part of that money: “We have got to think about not paying the 100 percent… The employees are going to have to participate… That’s my feeling, OK. Because it is absolutely, it cannot be sustained. And I don’t think it’s going to go five years.”
Anderson indicated that Covington started funding 100-percent benefits to better attract and retain people, like Mandeville.
“But in the private sector, the employee pays something. That’s it, you know. That’s how you survive as a business owner,” Kreller concluded.
Councilman at Large Jason Zuckerman told Kreller, “I don’t think you can make a general statement like that… I just think you have to look at the total package. What your total compensation is… I think what’s important is the total compensation. If pay is less, benefits might be higher. If pay is high and you gotta pay your own benefits, that’s gotta be taken into account… People do those calculations… they do that math. They see what the value of benefits is.”
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Mandeville Daily 