Brighton City Council OKs Pay and Benefits Study for Non Union Employees

Brighton City Council members voted 6-1 to contract the Michigan Municipal League to conduct an independent study on the city's non-union administrative employees' pay, benefits and job descriptions.

The study will cost the city a total of $5,850.

The original proposal included the evaluation of 12 city employees for the cost of $5,400, but City Council member Jim Bohn suggested that the city manager's position be included for an additional cost of $450.

Mayor Pro-Tem Chad Cooper disagreed, saying that the city manager is currently under contract for two more years, and the study on his pay, benefits and job description was not needed at this time.

City Manager Dana Foster said the purpose for the study would not be for pay raises or benefit raises, but to see how the city's pay and benefit compare to relevant jobs in the market place.

Mayor Jim Muzzin asked to have the city employees' pay and benefits reviewed first and foremost in order to have the data in time for city council's budget study sessions in March.

"This is not going to be something we get, look at once and then put aside," Muzzin said. "This is something that will probably have value for the next five to seven years. It's been a blue moon since we've had an outside Michigan Municipal League study. This is going to be something that we are going to keep around and pull off the bookshelf, so I think it has value."

Michigan Municipal League Director Heather Van Poucker will return before the City Council in two weeks to offer comparables.