COEUR d'ALENE - Nearly every Coeur d'Alene city department head is earning the maximum amount allowed under their wage scale.

Fourteen of the 17 department heads have hit the high end of what their pay bracket allows, meaning they're no longer eligible for merit increases.

In one case, according to human resource records obtained through a Freedom of Information request from The Press, a department head is earning more than what the pay scale allows because of Cost of Living increases earned along the way.

Those are different than merit increases, which are raises based on an employee performing "standard or above" on the job. COLA increases are generally 3 percent across-the-board raises given to employees. So while a department head might max out on merit increases, COLA raises can increase their salaries above what the city's adopted wage scales dictate.

However, proposed in the fiscal year 2014 budget is a 2 percent COLA raise for all employees, so the bulk of the department heads sitting at their maximum salary could surpass that amount when the fiscal year begins Oct. 1.

That's because the pay ranges are designed to adjust when COLAs are provided because without the adjustment, the pay ranges would become out of date and not stay in line with other pay ranges from competitors, according to the city's finance department. The adjustment is necessary to ensure wages stay competitive.

This fiscal year, only two positions are earning less than their maximum caps. Those are the deputy city administrator and city clerk.

The lone remaining department head position, the city administrator, is on a contract that determines pay and eligible increases. The position's minimum and maximum salary is not determined by the wage structure other employees are subject to.

City Administrator Wendy Gabriel earns $123,024, according to the fiscal year 2013 budget. She has declined merit raises the last five years.

Department head

merit increases

According to records compiled from a public records request, only one department head earned a merit increase this fiscal year.

Building Director Ed Wagner received a 1.157 percent merit increase. He is one of roughly a dozen department heads who earn $100,012, the maximum amount for Class 18 department heads, which is the pay grade designated for most department heads.

According to city personnel rules, department heads may receive a merit increase up to 8 percent each year.

A merit increase is approved by Deputy City Administrator Jon Ingalls if the department head is performing his or her job at "standard or above."

According to the records request, six department heads received 16 merit increases in the four fiscal years prior to 2013.

They are:

* Wagner, a 3 percent bump in 2009, and a 6 percent increase in 2010, 2011 and 2012. His salary is maxed at $100,012.

* Street Superintendent Tim Martin, 3 percent in 2009 and 2010 and 1.94 increase in 2011. His salary is maxed out at $100,012.

* Library Director Bette Ammon, 2 percent in 2009, 4 percent in 2010, 8 percent in 2011 and 2.87 percent in 2012. Her salary is maxed out at $100,012.

* Police Chief Wayne Longo, 8 percent in 2009, 8 percent in 2010 and .52 percent in 2011. His salary is maxed out at $112,008

* Parks Director Doug Eastwood, .22 percent in 2009. His salary is maxed out at $100,012

* Recreation Director Steve Anthony, .7 percent in 2009. His salary is maxed out at $100,012.

In 2009 and 2012, the city gave all of its employees a 3 percent COLA raise, including department heads, and a 1 percent COLA raise in 2011. So those totals would be added to merit increases during those years.

Only one department head position is eligible for merit increases in the proposed 2014 fiscal year budget, according to the city's finance department. City Clerk Renata McLeod, who took over the position in January and earns about $71,000, is eligible for a merit increase up to 8 percent next January. The city has budgeted roughly 5 percent in the proposed fiscal plan, according to the finance department.

All employees, unless they defer, would receive the proposed 2 percent COLA increase.

Too high, too low?

Opinions differ

City officials have staunchly defended their top wage earners, pointing to their longevity as a reason they've achieved the top salaries.

Others, most notably City Councilman Dan Gookin, have called them too high and out of line with what other city employees earn.

The topic has arisen in several meetings over the last month. During a recent budget workshop, Gookin said the reason department heads - who propose their department's budget each year - earn considerably more than other employees is because "people at the top are allowed to give themselves 8 percent raises."

Merit pay for other city employees is achieved not annually, but over the course of nine years. Each time an employee is eligible for a merit increase, it's for 0 or 5 percent. There isn't a sliding scale like there is for department heads.

Department heads are tasked more and should be compensated for it, supporting officials have maintained. They have said that a recent salary survey shows that Coeur d'Alene's pay scale is "competitive" with other governmental entities of like size, and the reason they're paid 11.5 percent more than their surveyed counterparts is because they've worked at the city longer than those in the other places.

"If you compare (Coeur d'Alene department heads) with other cities with a like job and like years, they're not paid more than most other cities," Mayor Sandi Bloem said at the workshop, adding that in many instances, responsibilities for a local department head is more than their counterpart elsewhere. "That's the key. Are (the taxpayers) getting the value?"

Exploring the

political divide

While the topic is sure to be big on the campaign trail this fall, a majority of the City Council supports the way department heads - who are at-will employees - are compensated. Gookin and Councilman Steve Adams have been the vocal opponents.

Councilman Ron Edinger said he supports department heads, not the city council, deciding when employees get raises, as well as the top administration deciding on a department head's merit increase. They are the people most familiar with how the employee is performing, he said.

"I don't want to be involved in, say, recommending whether an employee - an evaluation recommendation on an employee - should get a raise," he said as the council was hashing out the proposed budget in late July. "That's none of my damn business."

Five department heads are set to retire in the next two years, which is expected to save the city at least $145,000 in that span, according to the city. Their replacements will be eligible for merit increases as they will likely start on the low end of the wage scale.

While some department heads have accepted merit increases in the last five years, which includes the recession years, others like Gabriel have declined them.

Ingalls, the deputy administrator, has waived a potential merit increase each year for the last five years. His salary is $110,594 in the current budget, below the $125,465 cap for his pay grade.

His last merit increase was in 2007, and he said he waived the increases to set a good example to other employees during tough economic times and to make good on a promise that his move from the street department to administration wasn't financially driven.

"I am more comfortable having my pay close to being on par (or lower) with department heads," he told The Press in an email.