Finance Utilities Rules Committee Meeting - September 23, 2025
Finance Utilities Rules Committee Meeting - September 23, 2025
This meeting of the Finance Utilities Rules Committee focused on a proposed overhaul of the city's civilian employee compensation system, including changes to salary structures, job titles, and the elimination of the step-and-grade system. The presentation and subsequent discussion drew significant public comment from employees concerned about inadequate communication, loss of overtime opportunities, and pay equity compared to sworn positions. After extensive debate, the committee voted to return the salary ordinance to the full council with a negative recommendation, effectively pausing the changes until a revised plan can be developed for 2026.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Jim Spelpring, a 45-year street department employee, expressed that the salary study was inaccurate and a "slap in the face," noting that the department does much more than snow plowing and road paving. He highlighted the lack of overtime opportunities and that comp time does not help pay bills.
- Karen Sutton, a 20-year CSI with the Carmel Police Department, echoed concerns about pay disparity with sworn counterparts who received large raises. She noted that CSIs are trained to the highest level and face the same traumatic experiences but are not compensated equally. She also mentioned losing her take-home vehicle.
- Adam Schreiner, a 25-year right-of-way inspector in Engineering, expressed skepticism that the new system would actually result in higher pay, calling it "a facade." He noted that in 25 years he has never seen a director award a raise for exceptional performance.
- Fraser Jones from Engineering stated he does not agree with the job title changes, citing poor communication with HR after his initial meeting.
Discussion Items
- HR Director Nicole and Christy presented the salary study process, explaining why the city moved away from the contractor NFP and pivoted to an internal JAQ (Job Analysis Questionnaire) process. They highlighted that the current step-and-grade system causes employees to max out after five years, leading to compression and no way to reward performance or additional certifications.
- The proposed solution replaces steps with wider pay bands (e.g., Grade 10 minimum lowered from $65,969 to $59,000, maximum raised from $79,000 to $86,000), allowing more room for growth. No current employees would see salary reductions. Only two positions were moved down a grade, but their pay was not affected.
- Council members expressed concerns about the lack of a clear strategy, poor communication with employees, and the perception that the changes are designed to save money ($318,000 in 2027) rather than improve compensation. Counselor Locke questioned the need for such a massive change without a performance management plan in place. Counselor Snyder noted the creation of high-paying executive positions (over $200,000) while staff are asked to sacrifice overtime.
- Several council members emphasized the need to rebuild trust and involve employees in the process before implementing structural changes.
Key Outcomes
- A motion to return the 2025 salary ordinance to the full council with a negative recommendation was made, seconded, and carried unanimously.
- The chair suggested using the first quarter of 2026 to refine job titles, develop a performance management system with employee feedback, and then introduce a revised ordinance for 2026.
- No other agenda items were addressed; the meeting adjourned at 8:02 p.m.
Meeting Transcript
Welcome to the Tuesday September September 23rd Finance Utilities Rules Committee meeting. We have a number of constituents and employees in the room. So we're going to start off this meeting by public comment. Just uh some ground rules real quick. Um we try to keep public comment to three minutes. So when whoever liked to step up first, and then uh if you had a particular order you wanted to go in, just come up and press the button. It looks like it's already pressed. The the red light there will show that um that we can that you're being recorded and that your voice is being amplified. You're the green um the green light will uh show green while you have your three minutes. Yellow will give you a brief warning, and then red says when you're three uh three minutes up, or not to me hard and fast, but it's just a way to try to get through the get through all the comments in an efficient manner. So whoever would like to speak first, please uh approach the podium. Just state your name, please, for the record. I apologize, I am not a public speaker. Uh hello, my name is Jim Spelpring. I'm a Carmel resident and a 45 year employee of the city of Carmel. I'm speaking for myself, but I believe the other nine street department employees here tonight would agree with my concerns. I had questions about the salary study that was conducted. We were told in a letter that our department was being paid basically the same as other street departments around us. To me, that was a slap in the face. I am not sure that everyone knows what we do. Our department does more than just plowing snow and paving roads, and I must say we do a great job at doing both. Ask our residents who live in Carmel and work in Marion County. We do more, including watering flowers, emptying trash cans, all festivals throughout the year, including setting up and tearing down the Christmas market, building huts, ice rinks, fixing potholes, parking garages, install signs and banners. We take care of fountains and irrigations in the roundabouts, statues, repair storm inlets, and then also natural disasters and more. This is just a few of the things that we do, not everything. We also do uh other jobs for other departments, including building offices, moving city offices, hanging TVs, hanging artwork, and more projects that are asked of us. We are not equal to me, we are above and beyond. We are working a lot of hours with no overtime opportunities. I'm sure all the civilian employees feel the same about their duties. We are grateful to receive comp time, but comp time does not help pay the bills. Thank you for all the time you have devoted toward the budget process. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Any other public like to come speak. I would agree that we have the best street department in the state and probably the nation. So thank you for all of what you do. And um, but the the core um the core core concern of the matter is specifically the uh loss of uh ability to crew overtime. Is that is that the core matter? I just want to make sure I understood that correctly. Well, yeah, I believe so. And then also you got it, yeah. I just want to make sure we and on the committee fully understand. Um, yes, I believe so. That's uh a good part of it, but then uh we feel that uh the salary study was not very accurate. I don't know where this study came from or who conducted it, but like I said, you know, uh we feel that our department does more than what others do, and we're being paid the same. So the overtime, yes, is an issue. Um I'm sure it is with all the other city employees, the other departments. Um so there's nine of us here from the street and other departments, so we're just you know concerned about that. You know, we're just wondering why can't we? Why not us?
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