Heber City Manager Matt Brower walked out of Tuesday’s City Council meeting a little richer, thanks to an $11,000 bump to his own base pay, and the raises he had gotten from the elected officials for his team as well.
According to council members reflecting on his performance and considering what his salary was in comparison to what surrounding cities are paying their managers, Brower’s earned the increase.
Sherie Ashe, Heber City’s human resources manager, explained how her department was recently asked to look at earning data regarding all Heber City employees.
Though the results are not all ready for everybody, she did have results for Brower’s position.
“An organization called Wasatch Comp Group surveyed 16 different entities that included Wasatch County, Park City, Millcreek, Summit County, Orem, Cottonwood Heights, West Jordan, Pleasant Grove, Provo, Spanish Fork, Lehi, Draper, Saratoga Springs, Murray, American Fork and Springville. So, cast a wide net,” Ashe said. “They all came back, actually, with an average wage for city manager or city administrator of $208,293, and their maximum range average was $237,747.”
Matt Brower, Heber City’s manager, was making $197,879 annually.
According to a Heber City staff report, that put him 5.73% below comparable positions in surrounding areas.
“To stay competitive and ensure fair compensation, an increase in the city manager’s salary is recommended,” the document stated.
Brower has been with Heber City for six years, and Ashe recommended the council increase his base pay to at least match the surrounding average.
“I’m not opposed to this. I think you’ve done a good job,” Councilor Mike Johnston said.
His peers agreed, though Councilor Yvonne Barney wanted to wait until the next beginning of a fiscal year to work the change into the budget rather than using current surplus funds.
“I’m not saying no to the amount, I’m just saying I would prefer to do it the right way and wait until we have the next discussion and for the next budget,” she said. “That would be my recommendation going forward.”
The new fiscal year just began July 1.
“I think Matt does a great job,” Councilor Aaron Cheatwood said. “I know if we’d had this detail a couple of months ago when we had budgets, we would have talked about it then. We didn’t. We do now, and I am not willing to look at that number and see those ranges and look at those averages and then say, ‘Matt, we value you, but not at average for the next year.’ That doesn’t make any sense.”
He wanted to make the change more quickly.
“Matt goes to bat for his staff every single year on what we pay them, and he’s never once talked about what we pay him,” Councilor Scott Phillips said. “As we can see, his pay has dropped behind where it should be. And everything we discuss in meetings is because of the vision he’s brought to the city.”
He talked about Brower’s push for Heber City’s downtown revitalization and his focus on the community’s long-term plans.
“I would definitely support putting this into action now,” he added.
Brower didn’t stop batting — or perhaps quarterbacking — for his employees even as his own salary was up for discussion, interrupting Cheatwood mid-motion.
“I’m a great football fan, and quarterbacks can’t perform without great running backs and great receivers in a line that will protect them,” he said. “If you are going to increase my salary, what I’d like you to do is just give me half of it, and let me take the other half and share it between my lead team as a way of me thanking them.”
“There’s the Matt we all know,” Barney said. “I like that idea.”
Phillips motioned to raise his salary the full $11,000 suggested and also advocate $7,500 to his “A team.”
As long as their performance doesn’t disqualify them, each department head will get a $500 annual raise starting the first pay period in October. At the same time, Brower’s new salary will go into effect.