For City Council Meeting August 26, 2025
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
FROM: Tanya Williams, City Manager
BY: Shama Curian, Director of Human Resources and Risk Management
Title
Request City Council to:
Adopt Resolution No.8399 Approving the Memorandum of Understanding Establishing Compensation and Related Benefits for Employees Represented by the Rialto Fire Management Association;
Adopt Resolution No. 8400 Approving the Related Benefits for Executive Management, Unrepresented Management Employees, and the City Council;
Adopt Resolution No. 8401 Updating the Citywide Classification and Compensation Plan for Full-time and Part-time Employees; to Amend the Salaries for those Classifications Represented by the Rialto Fire Management Association, the Executive, and Unrepresented Management Employees.
(ACTION)
Body
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council:
1) Adopt a Resolution Approving the Memorandum of Understanding Establishing Compensation and Related Benefits for Employees Represented by the Rialto Fire Management Association;
2) Adopt a Resolution Approving the Related Benefits for Executive Management, Unrepresented Management Employees, and the City Council; and,
3) Adopt a Resolution Updating the Citywide Classification and Compensation Plan for Full-time and Part-time Employees; to Amend the Salaries for those Classifications Represented by the Rialto Fire Management Association, the Executive, and the Unrepresented Management Employees
SUMMARY
The Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”, as Exhibit 1-A) establishes terms and conditions of employment and compensation for City employees represented by the Rialto Fire Management Association (“RFMA”). Additionally, the City Council establishes by resolution the salaries and benefits for classifications that are not represented by an employee association or union. Similar to adjustments made to the Fire Management Association, this action seeks City Council Authorization to implement adjustments as outlined in the Benefit Profiles for those employees in Executive Management, Unrepresented Management, and the City Council (Exhibits 2-A, 2-B, and 2-C, respectively).
Pursuant to the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act, the City met and conferred in good faith concerning wages, benefits, and working conditions with this Employee Association.
BACKGROUND
The RFMA’s previous Memorandum of Understanding expired on June 30, 2025. Both City representatives and the RFMA unit initiated a focused negotiation process, which called for commitment from both sides to have as many meetings as possible in an attempt to reach an agreement. City representatives and the Association partnered together to ensure fair compensation while working towards a common goal of long-term fiscal sustainability.
The City continues to take necessary steps to meet current and future challenges, including continually shifting economic factors, increases to retirement costs, and changing demographics. These issues, along with the ability to provide competitive, fair-market wages, were the tenor of these negotiation meetings. The Association and City management representatives have since held a number of collaborative and productive meetings to discuss the MOU and issues raised by both parties regarding hours, wages, working conditions, and personnel policies.
During the course of negotiations, management representatives met with the City Council to discuss the status and progress and received direction on specific items under consideration.
ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION
Balancing the understanding that the City continues to compete with surrounding municipalities to attract and retain talent with the possibility of future economic uncertainty, the RFMA Negotiation team held true to their commitment to the process and worked closely with the City management representatives to reach an agreement. The Memorandum of Understanding is a 2-year term commencing retroactively to July 1, 2025, and expiring on June 30, 2027. The membership has since voted to accept the City’s offer.
Detailed information on the most notable revisions for the MOU and Benefit Profiles are included below.
Wages and Other Compensation
The proposed MOU provides for members in the RFMA group to receive cost-of-living adjustments in each year of the contracts:
• July 1, 2025: 3%
• July 1, 2026: 3%
Additionally, Executive Management and Unrepresented Management employees receive compensation and benefit adjustments through a City Council adopted resolution (Attachment 3). Historically, these compensation adjustments are in concert with other employee association agreements. Only benefit adjustments are made to the City Council’s Benefit Profile in parity with the Executive Management; their monthly stipend does not change.
Medical Benefit Allowance
The City of Rialto is among other public agencies in Southern California that contract with CalPERS to provide medical insurance to its employees. These Cities also provide employees with a medical benefit allowance to purchase medical, dental, and/or vision insurance through City-provided carriers such as CalPERS.
The proposed MOU and Unrepresented Management Benefits Profile allows for a $250 increase beginning December 1, 2025, to the medical benefit allowance to keep pace with increasing costs of health care premiums.
The increases to the medical are over a two-year term:
• Effective December 1, 2025, the City will contribute an additional $150/mo. towards RFMA unit and unrepresented management employees’ monthly cafeteria allowance
• Effective December 1, 2026, the City will contribute an additional $100/mo. towards RFMA unit and unrepresented management employees’ monthly cafeteria allowance.
Deferred Compensation
The proposed RFMA MOU also provides for additional contributions to unit employees’ 401(a) plans as follows:
• Effective July 1, 2025: the City shall pay an additional $153 per month towards each unit employee’s 401(a) deferred compensation plan for a total of $903/month.
In concert with the authority levels given, Executive Management, City Council, and Unrepresented Management shall receive additional contributions to their 401(a) plans as follows:
• Executive Management and City Council: Effective July 1, 2025: The City shall pay an additional $210/month towards the 401(a) deferred compensation plan for a total of $960/month.
• Unrepresented Management: Effective July 1, 2025: The City shall pay an additional $125/month towards the 401(a) deferred compensation plan for a total of $525/month.
Miscellaneous Items
The proposed MOU contains revisions to comply with laws and clean-up language to update practices and procedures. These MOU items were proposed by City Management and RFMA to streamline, simplify, and modernize the document.
CITY ASKS:
• Bilingual Pay: The Fire Chief will assess the need for bilingual capabilities annually in conjunction with the Human Resources and Risk Management Director who will jointly determine if the position still requires the need for bilingual capabilities.
• Cafeteria Benefits: Those unit employees who go on a leave of absence without pay other than workers’ compensation, shall have their cafeteria dollars prorated to hours worked.
• Vacation Accrual Accounting: Other than workers’ compensation, anytime a unit employee is on a leave of absence without pay, the vacation leave accruals will be prorated towards hours worked.
• Sick Leave: Other than workers’ compensation, anytime a unit employee is on a leave of absence without pay, sick leave accruals will be prorated towards hours worked.
• Overpayment in Paychecks: In the event of an overpayment in an employee’s paycheck, the employee will work with HR/RM and payroll to pay back the overpayments in a reasonable timeframe.
• Changes within the Benefit’s Profile for Executive and Unrepresented Management: It is the intent to have City Hall office hours open to the Public Monday through Friday. Depending upon an employee’s work schedule, should a Holiday fall on a regular day off, those holiday hours will be “banked” to utilize at a later date.
ASSOCIATION MISC. ASKS:
• At the beginning of each fiscal year, unit employees in RFMA shall receive 2 pairs of trousers, 2 Class B shirts, and 1 pair of boots. Such uniforms will be Class B Black Uniforms, which are Nomex/Fire Resistant.
With the end of May 2025 Consumer Price Index increase for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers in the Riverside/San Bernardino/Ontario region being about 2.6%, along with the annual average increase in medical premiums of 11%, the proposed agreement strives to provide a compensation package that keeps up with expected inflation, allows the City to remain competitive in the current labor market pool, but also preserves the City’s financial position to react to potential future budget challenges.
The proposed agreement helps align the City’s workforce strategies with its business and service goals and represents a fair and equitable contract for the employees and the City.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
This request is not a Project as defined by Section 15378 of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines. A “Project” means the whole of an action, which has a potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment. Pursuant to Section 15378 (b)(5), a project does not include organizational or administrative activities of governments that will not result in direct or indirect physical changes in the environment.
GENERAL PLAN CONSISTENCY
This action is consistent with Guiding Principle 3A in the General Plan:
“Our City government will lead by example, and will operate in an open, transparent, and responsible manner that meets the needs of the citizens and is a good place to do business.”
LEGAL REVIEW
The City Attorney has reviewed the resolutions and approved them as to form.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Operating Budget Impact
The Agreement with RFMA and the Executive/Unrepresented are projected to cost $548,108 for the two-year agreement, including CalPERS retirement costs and all associated costs that are tied to salary and benefit increases.
The 2-year cost details are as follows:
RFMA: $147,667
Executive/Unrepresented: $385,321
City Council: $15,120
The costs for FY 2026-27 are incorporated into the fiscal year budget.
Capital Improvement Budget Impact
There is no impact to the Capital Improvement Budget through this action.