8.
City Council Work Session
- Meeting Date:
- 02/25/2020
- From:
- Stacy Saltzburg, City Clerk
TITLE
Discussion: Policy to allow all employees to live outside city limits except by those who are specified by City Charter
STAFF RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Council Direction.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Councilmember Whelan made a Future Agenda Item Request on October 1, 2019, which was supported by the required number of Councilmembers. The item is now before the Council for discussion and direction to staff.
INFORMATION:
The City Charter makes reference to five City positions that must maintain their residence within the City of Flagstaff during their tenure of office; City Manager, City Clerk, City Treasurer, City Attorney, Department Heads which are defined in the City Code as Deputy City Manager(s).
There are four policies contained within the City of Flagstaff Personnel Handbook that relate to residency requirements for City employees:
The Residency Requirement policy was updated on November 6, 2018 to change the residency requirement from a specified boundary to a one-hour response time, except for Fire Department personnel and unless the City employee was taking home a City vehicle. The one-hour response time was important to City staff, so they could respond in a timely fashion to emergency situations such as water line breaks, sewer back-ups and snow operations. This did not apply to Fire Department personnel because of the automatic aid and other agreements in place that would provide an emergency response team rather than calling in personnel who were not scheduled to work.
In April 2019 the Governor approved Senate Bill 1231 which amended Arizona Revised Statute 9-500.46 to prohibit residency requirements for any Firefighter or Peace Officer as a condition of employment. This amendment did not include any executive level Firefighter or Peace Officer positions. Human Resources personnel are working on a revision to the Residency Requirement policy for City Council's consideration to comply with the Arizona Revised Statutes changes.
There are four policies contained within the City of Flagstaff Personnel Handbook that relate to residency requirements for City employees:
- 1-10-010.01: General Definitions
- 1-20-042: On-Call and Call-Out Pay
- 1-60-010: Residency Requirements
- 1-60-015: Use of City Vehicle
The Residency Requirement policy was updated on November 6, 2018 to change the residency requirement from a specified boundary to a one-hour response time, except for Fire Department personnel and unless the City employee was taking home a City vehicle. The one-hour response time was important to City staff, so they could respond in a timely fashion to emergency situations such as water line breaks, sewer back-ups and snow operations. This did not apply to Fire Department personnel because of the automatic aid and other agreements in place that would provide an emergency response team rather than calling in personnel who were not scheduled to work.
In April 2019 the Governor approved Senate Bill 1231 which amended Arizona Revised Statute 9-500.46 to prohibit residency requirements for any Firefighter or Peace Officer as a condition of employment. This amendment did not include any executive level Firefighter or Peace Officer positions. Human Resources personnel are working on a revision to the Residency Requirement policy for City Council's consideration to comply with the Arizona Revised Statutes changes.