Staff Report

1 IN CONSIDERATION OF ORDINANCE NO. 26-1548, FOR THE PURPOSE OF AMENDING METRO CODE SECTION 2.01.170 TO CHANGE THE PAYROLL SCHEDULE FOR METRO ELECTED OFFICIALS Date: 8/27/2026 Department: Finance Meeting Date: 9/17/2026 Prepared by: Brian Kennedy, 503-797- 1913, brian.kennedy@oregonmetro.gov Presenter(s), (if applicable): Brian Kennedy, Chief Financial Officer Length: 10 minutes ISSUE STATEMENT Metro is in the process of replacing key financial and human resources business systems to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the organization. One core principle of this type of project is to identify and eliminate manual or unusual business processes. Manual business processes lower organizational efficiency and increase the risk for errors. These challenges are particularly difficult in the payroll context, because errors have direct impact on the individuals’ pay and benefits. As part of Metro’s current software project, the elected official payroll schedule has been identified as a significant opportunity to improve business processes through the elimination of a manual process. For all regular Metro employees, staff run 26 payroll cycles a year - one cycle every 14 days. The Payroll team also runs 24 separate payroll cycles just for Metro’s eight elected officials. Staff would like to standardize all of Metro on one common payroll cycle to reduce manual processes and support the implementation of Workday, the new financial and human resources software platform. In 2018, Metro changed the payroll schedule for all employees from semi-monthly (twice a month payroll) to biweekly (every two weeks). Biweekly pay is generally recognized as a best practice and helps facilitate the efficient operations of the payroll system. When that change was made in 2018, the Metro Council and Auditor payroll schedule was not changed due to a variety of concerns arising from the Metro Charter and Code provisions related to elected official compensation. Staff developed a solution to the concerns raised in 2018 that does not require staying on the semi-monthly payroll cycle. If Council approves the change to biweekly payroll, elected official payroll periods will begin on the first Monday of the year (consistent with how the Metro Charter defines elected official terms), in line with established Metro biweekly pay periods. This eliminates any possibility of a compensation discrepancy arising from the semi-monthly to biweekly transition. Additionally, staff will review year-to-date compensation for each elected official prior to the last payroll cycle of the calendar year and make any adjustment necessary to ensure that gross compensation for the year exactly matches the charter-required amount. 2 This code amendment does not change compensation amounts for elected officials. The only change is moving elected officials to the same payroll cycle as regular Metro employees. ACTION REQUESTED Adopt Ordinance 26-1548 to change the Metro Code section 2.01.0170 (a) to allow the Metro Council President, Metro Councilors and Metro Auditor to paid at the same time as regular Metro employees. IDENTIFIED POLICY OUTCOMES This change will reduce manual processes, increase the efficiency of the payroll process and facilitate the successful implementation of Workday by July 1, 2027. POLICY OPTIONS FOR COUNCIL TO CONSIDER The Metro Council can choose not to change Metro Code section 2.01.0170 (a) and maintain the requirement to pay the Council in 24 equal payments (semi-monthly payroll). STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS The staff recommendation is to adopt Ordinance 26-1548.