COEUR d'ALENE - The wages and benefits of city of Coeur d'Alene employees are coming under analysis, but labor contracts aren't in danger.

Cd'A Mayor Steve Widmyer established a new internal committee Wednesday to study how the city's wage and benefit structure compares to the marketplace.

"It's not my intent to be busting any existing contracts or anything like that," Widmyer said. "I just want to see where exactly we are in the marketplace for every position we have."

He said he also wants to look at every benefit full-time employees receive and compare those to what other cities offer.

Widmyer said he is following through on the campaign commitment he made to examine the wages and benefits for the city's 350 employees.

The city has three employee unions: Lake City Employees Association, Police Officers Association and Firefighters Union.

All three unions currently have labor contracts in place. The employees union and the police union contracts won't expire until Sept. 30, 2017, and the firefighter's union contract is in effect until Sept. 30, 2018.

"That makes change a little more difficult when the contracts are so far out there," Widmyer said, adding that the committee will be charged with finding solutions other than re-negotiating those contracts.

He said the committee may be able to come up with a wage and benefit package for new hires that is more in line with similar-sized cities.

"This committee will gather data to help us determine how best to move forward with a compensation plan that is fair and equal to everybody involved," Widmyer said.

The mayor said he has studied a wage survey the city commissioned last year and determined a more extensive look needs to occur.

"I think it's important we take a comprehensive look internally at how our employees' wages compare with public employees across the region," Widmyer said. "It's important to our employees - and taxpayers - that we are offering salaries and benefits that are in line with what other public employees are receiving."

The mayor hopes to get started within the next two weeks, and the study is expected to last up to three months. When it is completed, the city council will determine how to proceed with the information gathered.

The mayor's ad-hoc committee will include City Administrator Wendy Gabriel, Finance Director Troy Tymesen, the mayor, Human Resources Director Melissa Tosi, City Attorney Mike Gridley, two city council members and representatives from all three unions.