COUNCIL HIKES PAY FOR TOP CITY OFFICIALS UTILITIES MANAGERS RATE MAJOR SALARY INCREASES.

Byline: Sylvia L. Oliande Staff Writer

BURBANK - The City Council approved pay raises of up to 9.9 percent for Burbank's top city officials, including the city manager and city attorney, that would make them among the highest paid in the region, officials said Wednesday.

The council on Tuesday unanimously approved the $250,000 salary package for ``unrepresented managers,'' bringing them to the top of the salary range average for their counterparts in the cities of Glendale, Pasadena, Torrance, Santa Monica and Inglewood.

The highest salary adjustments were set for assistant general managers for utilities, who had been more than 15 percent behind their peers, according to the city's survey. The pay range for the four assistant general managers of utilities had been $7,045 to $8,559 per month. The increase would bring that range to $7,742 to $9,406 per month.

The council also approved an increase for the city manager from $12,983 to $13,743 a month. The city attorney will receive a raise from $11,534 a month to $12,112 a month. Both salaries had been found to be more than 5 percent less than for equivalent positions in other cities.

The city clerk, whose salary lagged 6.9 percent behind that of her peers in other cities, will go from $6,434 a month to $6,756 a month. The city treasurer's salary was raised from $6,434 a month to $6,691 - it had been 15.56 percent below market rate, according to the city's survey.

The city caps individual raises at 7.5 percent over a cost of living adjustment - this year set at 2.4 percent - for a total of 9.9 percent. ``Our package is not that different from the (cities) we compare to,'' said John K. Nicoll, management services director. ``With the utilities positions, one of the things we did was undertake a market study to utilities, not just governments. Jobs (in that field) are becoming harder to fill and more expensive.''

Nicoll said the disparity among mid-managers in utilities came to light this year when the city compared its salaries with those of agencies different from ones it had surveyed in the past.

In addition to Glendale and Pasadena, Burbank also surveyed the city of Riverside and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power - the latter was adjusted for the difference in size of the agencies.

The lowest raise amount would be the 2.4 percent cost of living adjustment given to about 12 managers who were found to earn 2.4 percent less than their peers in the cities surveyed.

All the raises would be given based on an evaluation by the employees' supervisors, but raises for the city manager, city attorney, city clerk and city treasurer were set by City Council on Tuesday night.

The salary package also included a change in managers' retirement benefits. Starting in January, the city will pay the full retirement payment - 10.54 percent of an employee's pay. Before, employees paid for 3.54 percent of that cost.