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PERSONNEL PLAN
2025-2029
2025 – 2029 Personnel Plan / Page 2
INTRODUCTION
Similar to how the City plans its infrastructure and equipment needs through the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), this personnel plan is designed
to address the staffing needs required to support the anticipated demand for city services as Prior Lake grows. The general fund budget is
dominated by personnel costs (70.8% of the total budget in 2024) which explains why planning for personnel is critical for long-range planning
forecasts. This plan projects the anticipated staffing requirements for the City of Prior Lake through 2029. It will be revisited annually to adapt to
the evolving needs and expectations of the community.
The objectives of the plan include:
• Informing annual and long-range budget discussions and decisions;
• Forecasting future demands for service; and
• Identifying the resources required to perform current service levels in the future.
This five-year document will be incorporated into the city’s long-range financial plan and will be updated each year to inform the annual budget
process. Departments will be responsible for providing the metrics to justify the personnel requests and impact on current service levels during
annual budget deliberations. This document focuses only on the need and rationale for each position request. The discussion on how the city will
pay for these positions will be held through the annual budgeting process in consideration with other budget requests like the CIP. The City Council
will determine the addition and timing of any new staff additions.
BACKGROUND
The personnel of the City of Prior Lake provide essential services to 27,855 (2022 Met Council population estimate) residents over approximately
nineteen square miles. In addition, the residents of Spring Lake Township, the City of Credit River, and the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux
Community (SMSC) receive public safety services from the City. Prior Lake has grown at a steady pace of about five hundred residents annually in
one of the fastest growing counties in Minnesota. The Metropolitan Council forecasts Prior Lake’s population will grow to 37,600 residents by
2040.
Cities do not grow solely in terms of population or households as the services -- infrastructure, parks, public safety, and technology, to name a few
– that are required to accommodate such growth must expand as well. These services are supported by municipal employees together with the
equipment, supplies and training necessary to execute their functions.
The City of Prior Lake currently operates with 118.65 employees, including the addition of 12 new full-time firefighters in 2023. The majority (76%)
of employees work Public Works, Police Department, and Fire Department, most of whom are considered essential employees. The city hires
around fifty seasonal and temporary positions each year and employs 25 paid on-call firefighters.
2025 – 2029 Personnel Plan / Page 3
PERSONNEL NEEDS THROUGH 2029
Below is an overview of the projected staffing needs to maintain current service levels through 2029. Community Development and Finance have
added positions in the past few years and should be adequately staffed for several years. Administration and Fire have identified a couple of key
positions to round out those departments’ staffing needs into the future. To address supervisory span of control, Public Works proposes an
additional position in 2025. On the following pages, each department is profiled with a summary of all current and proposed positions within the
department and a rationale for each new FTE request.
NOTE: The Police Department is in the process of a staffing/scheduling study with an external consultant. The findings of that study should be
ready later this summer. The Police Department section of this report is to be determined and will be entered upon completion of the study.
*Does not include potential staffing additions for the Police Department
Department 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029
Administration (8)
- 1 .62 - -
Community Development (10.8)
- - - - -
Finance (6.8)
.2 - - - -
Fire (14)
- 1 - - -
Police (39.42) TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD
Public Works (39.63) 1 - - 1 .37
Total New*: 1.2 2 .62 2 .37
Total City Headcount (118.65)
2025 – 2029 Personnel Plan / Page 4
DEPARTMENT
PROFILES
2025 – 2029 Personnel Plan / Page 5
ADMINISTRATION
*2026: Administrative Assistant. This will be a hybrid position that will support the Fire Department, City Manager, and staff the front desk of
City Hall. By 2026, the full-time Fire Department will have been functioning for two full years, including implementing a fire safety inspection
program for all commercial buildings and beefing up public education. Administrative support will be required to assist with scheduling
inspections, follow-up paperwork, organizing education events, etc. The City Manager requires administrative support for the scheduling,
correspondence, and other executive assistance. These duties used to fall to the combination HR support/executive assistant position which
transitioned to full-time HR duties in 2022. As for City Hall, we anticipate transitioning the Deputy City Clerk away from reception area duties
into full-time clerk duties because of increased elections administration mandates by the State and records management needs. The
Administrative Assistant will greet customers, answer phones, check mail, and conduct front desk tasks so the Deputy City Clerk can focus full-
time on clerk duties.
*2027: Communications Specialist/Graphic Designer (.62 FTE). With the Prior Lake American going out of business combined with continued
growth of the community, additional communications support is needed to effectively reach residents. Communicating with the public is a core
city service, and as a local government, we are obligated to provide timely, relevant information to our citizens to ensure transparency and
accountability. The time required to create videos, social media content, news, website updates, and other content is increasing. Additional
support is needed to help manage the city’s website and to create graphics for all city communications mediums.
Total FTEs in 2024 – 8
Administration 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029
City Manager 1 1 1 1 1
Assistant City Manager 1 1 1 1 1
City Clerk 1 1 1 1 1
Deputy City Clerk 1 1 1 1 1
HR Coordinator 1 1 1 1 1
Communications Manager 1 1 1 1 1
Communications Specialist - - .62* .62 .62
IT Manager 1 1 1 1 1
IT Specialist 1 1 1 1 1
Admin Assistant - 1* 1 1 1
TOTAL: 8 9 9.62 9.62 9.62
2025 – 2029 Personnel Plan / Page 6
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Due to the addition of new FTEs in recent years, no new personnel additions are anticipated through 2029. A seasonal Development Services
Assistant position was converted to a part-time (0.8 FTE) position in 2022. The financial impact was not significant for the part-time position as
the City previously paid an hourly rate for seasonal assistance and wages and benefit costs associated with this position will be covered with
building permit revenues. One full-time Building Inspector position was added in 2021 which was primarily funded for two years by a Building
Official Training Grant Program grant received from the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. This new Building Inspector position was
necessary due to the increased demand for inspections, plan review, and permit issuance. In addition to plan review and assisting customers at
the counter, the city issues over 2,800 building permits and conducts 6,000+ building inspections per year. It is common during the busier times
of year for each inspector to have over twenty inspections on their daily calendar. Current staffing levels should meet the demand for services for
the foreseeable future.
Total FTEs in 2024 – 10.8
Community Development 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029
Comm Development Director 1 1 1 1 1
Building Official 1 1 1 1 1
Building Inspector 3 3 3 3 3
Code Enforcement Officer 1 1 1 1 1
Planner 2 2 2 2 2
Development Services Assistant 2.8 2.8 2.8 2.8 2.8
TOTAL: 10.8 10.8 10.8 10.8 10.8
2025 – 2029 Personnel Plan / Page 7
FINANCE
*2025: Assistant Finance Director (.2 FTE). This position was budgeted at .8 FTE in 2023. The Assistant Finance Director will transition to a full-
time position in 2025.
Total FTEs in 2023 – 6.8
Finance 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029
Finance Director 1 1 1 1 1
Asst Finance Director 1* 1 1 1 1
Sr Financial Analyst/Sr Accountant 1 1 1 1 1
Financial Analyst 1 1 1 1 1
Account Specialist 1 1 1 1 1
Utility Billing Clerk 2 2 2 2 2
TOTAL: 7 7 7 7 7
2025 – 2029 Personnel Plan / Page 8
FIRE
*2026: Fire Marshal. One of the first initiatives full-time staff focused on was building a pre-plan and inspection program. Conducting the inventory
and building a database of all commercial buildings in Prior Lake will likely take two years. To date, Fire Department personnel have begun the
process of pre- planning and performing life safety inspections on over fifty commercial and multifamily properties. This is a significant task that
requires dedicated on-going management. The proposed Fire Marshall will hold State certification; currently, the Fire Chief is the city’s Fire
Marshal, but he does not hold the certification. The Fire Marshal will manage the pre-plan and fire inspection programs for multi-family,
commercial, and educational properties in the Fire Department service area and will have the authority to enforce state law, local statute, and fire
code violations. The Fire Marshal will also be tasked with creating a preliminary fire investigation program to better secure evidence and site
preservation of fire scenes and to lead the follow-up required by the State Fire Marshal investigator. The Fire Marshal will develop and manage a
training program for firefighters related to inspections, pre-planning, and investigations.
*2026: Administrative Assistant. See Administration section on page 5.
Total FTEs in 2024 - 14
Fire 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029
Fire Chief 1 1 1 1 1
Assistant Fire Chief 1 1 1 1 1
Fire Marshall - 1* 1 1 1
Full-time Fire Captain 3 3 3 3 3
Full-time Firefighter 9 9 9 9 9
TOTAL:
14 15 15 15 15
2025 – 2029 Personnel Plan / Page 9
POLICE
The Prior Lake Police Department (PLPD) is unique in that it provides services to two communities - Prior Lake and the Shakopee Mdewakanton
Sioux Community (SMSC). Significant resources have been added over the past few years to catch up with historic staffing shortages. PLPD is in a
much better position to provide police services so the timing is right to assess staffing needs into the future. In 2024, the PLPD is working with the
consulting firm BerryDunn on a data-driven analysis of staffing needs and an evaluation of current work processes. This analysis should be complete
by late summer 2024. At that time, the personnel plan will be updated with the PLPD staffing needs and shared.
Total FTEs in 2024 – 39.42
Police 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028
Police Chief 1 1 1 1 1
Commander 2
Sergeant 6 T T T T
Patrol Officer/Investigator 24* B B B B
Records Supervisor 1 D D D D
Records Specialist 3.62
Community Service Officer .8
Evidence Room Technician 1
TOTAL: 39.42
2025 – 2029 Personnel Plan / Page 10
PUBLIC WORKS
*2025: Public Works Supervisor. In 2022, the vacant Public Works Supervisor (Utilities) position was converted to a full-time Maintenance Worker
position. This conversion was made after an unsuccessful internal and external recruitment for the supervisor position with the intention to focus
on developing current team members into a future supervisor. With the multi-million dollars of planned and necessary utility maintenance projects
over the next several years (sewer lining, SCADA upgrade, water treatment facility filter beds, etc.), positioning a team member to lead the
management and delivery of these projects is critical. The addition of this position will allow these duties to be shifted away from the Assistant
Public Works Director so he can focus more fully on the city-wide facility maintenance needs. As a utility position, this position has been planned
for and will be funded from the city’s utility enterprise funds.
*2028: Facilities Maintenance Manager. With the departure of the Maintenance Superintendent in 2023, and subsequent reclassification of this
position to Assistant Public Works Director, combined with the city’s continuing demand for facility support, there is a need for additional resources
and expertise focused on facility maintenance and capital facilities projects. Based on the current proposal to consider the addition of this position
in 2028, adjustments to the long-range capital facility plan may be necessary, including large pending projects at City Hall and the Police
Department.
*2029: Recreation Programmer (0.37 FTE). In anticipation of a continued increase and demand for city recreation programs and activities, it is
proposed to increase the current part-time to full-time.
Total FTEs in 2024 – 39.63
Public Works 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029
PW Director/City Engineer 1 1 1 1 1
Assistant Public Works Director 1 1 1 1 1
Supervisor* 3* 3 3 3 3
Facility Maintenance Manager - - - 1* 1
Mechanics 3 3 3 3 3
Maintenance Worker/Operator 22 22 22 22 22
Facilities Maintenance 1 1 1 1 1
GIS Coordinator*** 1 1 1 1 1
PW Specialist 1 1 1 1 1
Asst City Engineer 1 1 1 1 1
Engineering Tech 2 2 2 2 2
Water Resource Engineer 1 1 1 1 1
Parks & Recreation Manager 1 1 1 1 1
Recreation Supervisor 1 1 1 1 1
Recreation Programmer 1.63 1.63 1.63 1.63 2*
TOTAL: 40.63 40.63 40.63 41.63 42
2025 – 2029 Personnel Plan / Page 11
ATTACHMENT B: Org Chart