Company Profile
City of Levelland
Company History
Levelland, Texas
Located on the Texas South Plains just 30 miles west of Lubbock, Levelland is the largest city (population 13,542) and county seat of Hockley County, Texas. While the local economy is driven largely by petroleum production and agriculture, mostly cotton production, Levelland also boasts a strong and active government sector. With its main campus located in Levelland, South Plains College is one of the premier community colleges in Texas and with an annual fall enrollment exceeding 10,000 students. In 2007 Levelland ISD opened two new campuses, one of which, the Academic Beginning Center, has been recognized statewide for design excellence and innovation in programming for pre-school and kindergarten students. Hockley County has a $15 million multipurpose events center which hosts such activities as rodeos, fairs, conventions, agriculture and business shows, and even large banquet events. In recent years the City built Phase I of a Multi-use Sports Complex and is about to open a new Fire Station and Police Communications Center.
The City of Levelland has a Council/Manager form of government with Council members who are very supportive of the City’s 98 employees and their efforts to keep the city improving and progressing. The City has an excellent senior management staff whose average tenure with the City of Levelland is 10 years. This strong team of leaders/managers includes three with Masters Degrees and four more with Bachelor’s degrees. Departments with the City include, Economic Development, City Secretary/Human Resources, Administrative Services, Information Technology, Finance, Municipal Court, Building Inspections and Code Enforcement, Police, Fire, Streets, Water, Wastewater, Cemetery and Parks. Contracted services include ambulance, solid waste collection and disposal, and Airport Management.
The Director of Economic Development is one of eleven City Department Head level positions, and is hired by the Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors with daily supervision by the City Manager. The City of Levelland annual budget and annual audit are both available on the City of Levelland website (www.levellandtexas.org). These include a number of special funds including Type A and Type B economic development sales tax corporations and two Tax Increment Financing Districts.
Benefits
City of Levelland Benefits Summary
as of 02/07/2018
Please Note: This overview of the City of Levelland Benefits
is presented as a matter of information only and
does not constitute a contract. In addition, the benefits are
subject to change without notice.
For Regular Employees who work 40 hours or more per week, the City contributes, for each pay period, 12% of the employee's gross salary for that pay period towards the Texas Municipal Retirement System fund, and the employee contributes 6% of gross salary for the pay period towards his/her retirement fund. Employees automatically become a member of the City's retirement system upon the 1st day of employment with the City.
For Regular Full Time Employees who work at least 40 hours per week, the City provides a medical plan and life insurance, at no cost to the employee. The City offers Consumer Centered Plans and each employee is given $600 per month and has the option to select from one of eight plans for medical insurance. Those plans differ only in the annual deductible and out of pocket costs. Depending on the election an employee makes, the monthly premium may be less than the amount allowed. In that case, the additional amount goes into either a Health Reimbursement Account or a Health Savings Account (only available for high deductible plans) which the employee can use for out of pocket medical expenses. In addition, the City provides a life insurance policy with a value of $10,000 to each employee. The City pays the monthly premium of $2.45 for this policy. It has an Accidental Death Rider of $10,000 as well.
Dental, Vision, Dependent Life, Supplemental Life and Dependent Medical coverage are available through payroll deduction at the expense of the employee. The medical, dental and vision insurance is under a 125 Cafeteria Plan. While the City pays for standard employee coverage, any deductions for dependent coverage or deductions for employees who elect the additional insurance are taken out of the employee’s paycheck before it is taxed.
The city also participates in a Flexible Spending Account for Medical Expenses. With this plan, an employee can put aside money to be used for out of pocket medical expenses using pre-tax income.
Non-exempt City Employees in regular positions receive pay for a full day at their regular rate for nine (9) paid holidays per year. If one of the holidays falls on a Saturday, City employees will celebrate that holiday on the preceding Friday. When such a holiday falls on a Sunday, City employees will celebrate that holiday on the succeeding Monday.
For most employees, the first three months of employment is a probationary period. That period may be extended for an additional period up to three (3) months, not to exceed a total of six (6) months. In the Police Department, the probationary period is a minimum of six (6) months due to TCLOSE requirements.
New full time City employees begin to accrue vacation time from the first day of employment but no paid vacation time can be used until the employee has completed 6 months of employment. In addition, during the first six months of employment, unpaid vacation time is not generally granted except at the discretion of the Department Head for significant personal events in the employee’s life. Vacation time is allowed after six (6) months of employment.
For Full Time employees, vacation time is accrued at the rate of .84 days (10 days per year) for each month of service for employees with five or less years of continuous employment, 1day (12 per year) for each month of service for employees with six through ten years of continuous employment, and 1.25 days (15 per year) for each month of service for employees with 11 through 15 years of continuous employment.
For Full Time employees, the City provides longevity pay after the first year of employment is completed. The longevity pay rates are dependent on the length of longevity with the City.
All employees are covered under Worker's Compensation from date of hire.
The City offers a 457 plan. This plan is a voluntary tax-favored program that allows the public employee to contribute a portion of his or her salary before federal taxes into a supplemental retirement account. Since this is long-term investment, withdrawal prior to retirement is limited to certain financial hardship situations.
In some cases, certification pay, clothing allowances, standby pay, special duty pay, and uniforms may also be provided depending upon the position and the qualifications of the employee.
City employees are given the opportunity to participate at the employee’s expense in a number of insurance policies provided through AFLAC insurance.