Joehler, Panela S 37 ~>. 11 University l_73uspi System pay 1991 increase MONTANASTATELIBRARY S379.11L73uspi1991c.1Joehler UniversitySystempayincrease/ 3 0864 00073857 8 379.11 t L73uspi 1991 STATE OF MONTANA j LjfjLcE. oj tns Jsqi±Latiue _7ileal czrfnaLuik STATE CAPITOL HELENA, MONTANA 59620 406/444-2986 1ESAOLCOTTCOHEA 3LATIVE FISCALANALYST June 14, 1991 I . STATE DOCUMENTS COLLECTION TO: Legislative Finance Committee OCT 2 3 1991 FROM: Pamela D. Joehler Senior Fiscal Analysstt U ' HMEOLNETN1AA5N1,5AMESO.TNA6TtTAhENAALVIEBr.rRARY RE: University System Pay Increase The purpose of this report is to inform the committee of the Commissioner of Higher Education's (CHE) recommendation to the Board of Regents for the pay plan increase for the University system for the 1993 bieunium and Its long-term fiscal consequences. "University System'' in this report refers to the six units and experiment stations only. 1993 Biemiium Pay Vten House Bill 509 passed by the 1991 legislature provides a $.60 per hour increase in fiscal 1992, a $.25 per hour increase in the first half of fiscal 1993, and an additional $.20 per hour in the second half of fiscal 1993 as well as a $20 per month health insurance contribution increase each year of the biennium. House Bill 509 also provides a progression increase for state employees covered under the general pay matrix (matrix 60) Under the progression . increase, an employee receives an annual adjustment of 0.125 percent for each percentage point his salary is below the "market" salary for his assigned grade. The "market" salary, which is set in statute, was . . determined by a 1990 survey of public and private employers in Montana and public employers in North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho, and Washington House Bill 509 does not provide a progression increase for teachers, liquor store employees, blue collar employees, and exempt employees (those not covered by pay matrix 60) HB University System Pay Plan - 509 The funding for the University System portion of the 1993 biennium pay plan in HB 509 was calculated with the following assumptions: a) Positions classified as Classified and Part-Time and Other were assumed to be subject to pay matrix 60 and, therefore, received the hourly increase, progression increase, and insurance increase. b) Positions classified as Contract Faculty and Contract Professional and Administrative were assumed to be on a Board of Regents contract, and therefore, under section 2-18-103, MCA, exempt from the state classification system and the progression increase calculation in HB 509. c) Other adjustments (applied to all state positions) included a vacancy savings adjustment and a pay period adjustment since the new pay plan is not effective until the first full pay period of each fiscal year. The pay period adjustment results in a 10 day lag in fiscal 1992 and a 8 day lag in fiscal 1993. House Bill 509 includes $13,929,000 in the 1993 biennium for the University System pay plan. The bill appropriates 22 percent of the cost from tuition revenue ($3,064,000); the remaining 78 percent is funded from general fund ($10,865,000). CHE University System Pay Plan - Recommendation At the May 1991 Board of Regents meeting, the Commissioner of Higher Education recommended a pay plan totaling $17,041,000 for the 1993 biennium. The CHE recommended several adjustments which account for the differences. These include: a) Providing all university system employees a progression increase in addition to the hourly and insurance increases. This adds $2.22 million to the 1993 biennium pay plan cost. b) Funding the pay plan increase effective July 1 each fiscal year. The CHE notes that because the university system pays monthly for pay periods covering an entire month, it will not experience the "lag" expected in other state agencies. This adds approximately $311,000 to the 1993 biennium pay plan cost. c) Eliminating the vacancy savings adjustment. This adds approximately $245,000 to the 1993 biennium pay plan cost. In the general appropriations act, the 1991 legislature applied 2 percent vacancy savings to non-faculty positions in the Instruction and Support programs and 4 percent vacancy savings to all positions in the Research, Public Service, and Physical Plant programs while excluding faculty from any vacancy savings. Finally, the CHE asserted that HB 509 provides insufficient funds for classified and part-time and other staff in the 1993 biennium. The statewide average percent increase (reflecting the hourly increase and the progression increase) was used to calculate the pay plan cost for classified and part-time staff rather than the hourly increase and a position-specific progression increase because specific position information upon which to estimate progression increases (i.e. grade/step) is not currently centrally available 3 for the university system. This will become available when the Regents' Employee Reporting System is implemented in fiscal 1992 Approximately . $333,500 would be necessary to fully fund the hourly increase for classified and part-time staff. Table 1 shows the funding" contained in House Bill 509 for the University System, the adjustments recommended by the CHE, and the resulting proposed 1993 biennium pay plan for the Montana University System. As table 1 shows, the proposed adjustments add $3.1 million additional costs to the pay plan -- all of which would be funded from tuition increases under CHE's proposal. The Board of Regents is expected to take final action on the recommendation at its June 20-21, 1991 meeting in Havre. Table 1 1993 Biennium Pay Plan Montana University System General Fund Tuition Total House Bill 509 $10,865,000 $3,064,000 $13,929,000 CHE Adjustments: $2,222,754 $ 2,222,754 1) Market Adjustment 2) Pay Period Delay 311,000 311,000 3) Vacancy Savings 245,000 245,000 4) Base Calculation Shortfall 333.500 333.500 (est.) Total CHE Adjustments $3,112,254 $ 3.112.254 CHE 1993 Biennium Pay Plan $10,865,000 $6,176,254 $17,041,254 Recommendation The Commissioner of Higher Education recommended to the Board of Regents at its May 1991 meeting that annual resident tuition and other fees for a full-time student be increased approximately 6.6 percent from fiscal 1991 to 1992 and an additional 2.8 percent in fiscal 1993. Compared to estimated peer data provided to the Board of Regents, Montana resident 4