Title
Consider Assessor's Request Regarding Certificate Pay
Recommended Action
I move that the Council adopt the following levels of compensation for Assessor staff that achieve the relative levels of certification described in NMSA 4-39-5:
For Appraiser I Certificate: $_____________ (up to $500)
For Appraiser II Certificate: an additional $_____________ (up to $1,500)
For Appraiser III Certificate: an additional $_____________ (up to $2,500)
For Appreaiser IV Certificate: an additional $_____________ (up to $3,000)
and that these amounts be equally divided per pay period and paid from the property valuation fund.
I further move that the requirements for certification levels be removed from the Assessor's Office job descriptions, that the current pay scale for these positions be reduced by the same relevant amounts for each required level of certification, and that these changes be implemented for the Fiscal Year beginning July 1, 2017.
County Manager's Recommendation
The following discussion is from the perspective of the County Manager and due to its complexity please review the recommendations at the end of the narrative.
Body
During the salary survey conducted in 2015, a question was raised by the County Assessor's office regarding whether or not the employee's of that department were receiving "certificate pay". Certificate pay is allowed under state statute (see attachment A) relevant to an employee's attainment of a certain level of training, yet also requires approval of the County Council in a specified amount up to a defined maximum. The Assessor also asserted that the most recent Valuation Plan (submitted to and approved by Council during the prior month of March) approved the payment of certificate pay and called for this to be paid from their Reassessment Fund. Upon review of the language in the 2015 valuation plan, it does call for the approval of the source of payment, yet it does not specifically approve the certificate pay as requ...
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