Over the next several months, an ad hoc committee will be reviewing and making recommendations regarding City of Minot employment benefits and cost-of-living wage adjustments.

The city hasn’t been conducting a regular review, and health insurance and related benefits haven’t been officially bid for 20 years. Council member Roscoe Streyle, who proposed the committee, said health care costs for the city are up $2 million over the past two years.

“That’s a problem. So we’ve got to figure out a solution that’s great for the taxpayer, and importantly for the employee,” he said. “This, I think, gives us some tools to look at better benefits potentially, a better pay structure for city staff and easier to budget on.”

The city has been working with a broker to look into health care plans, and an employee committee is conducting a policy review. However, Streyle stressed the need for broad involvement.

“I’d like everybody at the table. We are not going to get the best deal if we can’t get everybody at the table. That includes insurance companies and employees themselves, so they understand the benefit package, the benefits of going to an HSA-heavy (health savings account) plan versus a low deductible, very, very expensive plan that we have now,” he said.

The council voted 5-2 to set up a committee, which will have representatives from the council, the city’s Civil Service Commission, employees, retired employees as well as the city manager and Human Resources director. Meetings will be open to the public.

Council members Stephan Podrygula and Lisa Olson voted against the committee, which Olson described as council micromanagement.

City Manager Harold Stewart supported looking at alternatives that are financially sustainable for the city and will result in higher employee satisfaction but urged caution with the process. 

“My preference is to use the city policy committee in partnership with the Civil Service Commission to have that conversation. This is going to be a tough conversation, and there’s going to be a lot of people that are really upset because this is a complicated issue,” he said.

“The committee also will be tasked with investigating whether an insurance pool with other local government or quasi-government agencies would be worth pursuing. The City of Minot currently operates a self-funded insurance plan.

Streyle recommended a review of cost-of-living increases after seeing 2023 pay raises ranging from 2.5%, which he called too low, to 7.5%, which he said is out of line with private sector raises.

Human Resources Director Lisa Jundt agreed a salary review is needed based on wage compression on the horizon with lower salaried workers catching up too quickly to upper level staff within departments.

“I don’t care how much percentage people get,” Podrygula said. “What I care about personally is that they’re paid what they’re worth, and I think the best way of determining what they’re worth is analyzing what the market says.

“We really need to take a careful and comprehensive look at every way that we reinforce and reward employees coming to us and staying with us and being more productive and being better public servants,” he added.

In other business, the council debated appointing assistant city attorney Stefanie Stalheim as interim city attorney with a 10% salary increase. City Attorney Kelly Hendershot resigned for a different job opportunity but had been providing part-time services while Stalheim was on leave.

Because Stalheim is one of three candidates for the open position, the council hesitated to place her in an interim position due to concern about influencing a hiring decision. A new attorney could be selected in a month to six weeks.

The council voted 5-2 to name Stalheim as interim city attorney, with Carrie Evans and Streyle voting against.

“I think she needs to be given that title for the responsibility that she’s going to carry,” Olson said.