St. Albert is still struggling to recruit senior planners and one senior manager thinks it's partially because the city's salary levels are thousands less than other municipalities in the region.
St. Albert has been trying to hire two senior planners for months. Council approved the positions in the 2011 budget to help the planning department deal with a heavy workload.
The city is close to filling one of the positions but will have to re-advertise for the other because the first posting didn't attract any qualified people, said director of planning and development Curtis Cundy.
"There's a real shortage in senior planners," he said.
Several Alberta municipalities are advertising for senior planners and it's hard for St. Albert to compete.
"They're actually at a much higher salary level than we are," Cundy said.
Job postings on the website of the Canadian Institute of Planners list openings for senior planners in Edmonton, Calgary and Parkland County.
Edmonton's postings list a salary range of $74,500 to $106,000. Parkland County's stated range is $90,000 to $112,500. Calgary offers $69,000 to $103,700.
In March the City of St. Albert advertised for a senior planner at a salary range between $72,000 and $88,000.
"I think council's going to have to deal with it overall," Cundy said, referring to pay levels across the organization and not just his department.
For its non-unionized workers, the city follows a biannual salary adjustment cycle. This means cost of living adjustments come in odd-numbered years while pay adjustments based on market comparison take place in even-numbered years.
This year employees received a cost of living increase of one per cent. Next year the job market comparison will be based on a new sample group.
Last fall a study found the city pays more than its targeted 60th percentile for several job categories. However, the report acknowledged some openings, including those for planners, are hard to fill.
Mayor Nolan Crouse has been making regular inquiries about the status of the planning hires but this is the first time he's heard salary could be an issue.
"That's not something I'd want to talk about until I hear the full story," he said.
The St. Albert Taxpayers' Association has been pressing the city to start holding the line on salaries.
Shortage
Planners are at the forefront of moving new developments through the city's approval processes. The city likes its senior planners to have five to seven years of experience, Cundy said. These types of professionals are in short supply, he said, judging from the number of active job postings that are around.
"For whatever reason, people haven't been choosing it as a profession or many of the people with experience have either retired [or] transitioned into other types of jobs," he said.
