Cedar Rapids City Council bumps city manager’s pay

CEDAR RAPIDS — Iowa’s highest paid city administrator, Cedar Rapids City Manager Jeff Pomeranz, received a 4 percent pay increase this week.

The bump to his salary, effective retroactive to Sept. 20, boosted his pay to $379,475 — up from $364,863 the prior year. The pay increase — approved Tuesday with no discussion — follows a Dec. 5 closed-session annual performance review by the Cedar Rapids City Council. Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell was absent from Tuesday’s meeting, but was present for the review.

“I think the citizens of Cedar Rapids have a tremendous value in having probably one of the best city managers in the country in our city,” said council member Scott Overland, chair of the council’s Finance and Administrative Services Committee.

“Jeff is just as excited about being city manager today as he’s been the whole time I’ve known him. He’s always looking for a new challenge, something that he can move the ball forward on. I would have to think that we perhaps wouldn't be quite as successful if we didn't have a city manager of his caliber.”

Pomeranz has served as the city manager of Iowa’s second-largest city since September 2010 and manages a staff of more than 1,200, including about a dozen department directors. In a career spanning more than three decades, he also has served as city manager for three other cities: West Des Moines; Port Angeles, Washington; and Del Rio, Texas.

“His value to the city is as great or greater than when he came in 2010,” Overland said. “We rely very much on his guidance in the operation of the city and in hiring new directors.”

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Data: City of Cedar Rapids public employee salaries for fiscal year 2023

In 2017, the council approved a retention bonus plan for Pomeranz. For remaining an employee through March 18, 2023, referred to in the plan as “the retirement date,” he earned a $131,027 bonus. He gets an additional $25,000-per-year bonus if he stays in his role in good standing beyond age 65 as long as he does not resign or get fired for any reason.

That once-a-year bonus is separate from the increase to his base pay approved Tuesday. Pomeranz’s deferred compensation — money he sets aside for retirement in lieu of participating in IPERS, the state’s public retirement system — is 32 percent of his wages. He gets another $300 per month as a vehicle allowance.

Overland said Pomeranz helps council members get the information they need to make decisions.

“He’s very good at working with all different groups throughout the city,” Overland said. “He’s an extremely high performer. His job is not an 8-5 job, it’s pretty much a seven-day-a-week job. He’s available any time. Even when he’s not in town, he’s still working.”

The council also decides on salaries for City Attorney Vanessa Chavez and City Clerk Alissa Van Sloten, who also report directly to and are appointed by the council. Their annual reviews took place in closed session Tuesday.

Comments: (319) 398-8494; marissa.payne@thegazette.com