NEWBURYPORT — Mayor John Moak is asking the City Council to approve two salary grade changes for the assistant assessor and the assistant city clerk.

Moak said yesterday he was approached by two of his department heads several months ago with descriptions showing the additional responsibilities for these two positions.

"They showed me these two people were not in the proper grade," Moak said. "They presented documents and letters of support to me. I was looking for justification from my department heads."

The mayor said he told his department heads, City Clerk Richard Jones and Assessor Daniel Raycroft, they had to find the funds for the upgrade in their departmental budgets, as there is no funding in the general budget.

If passed by the City Council, the upgrade would take effect Jan. 4. It would not be retroactive to the start of the fiscal year.

The City Council will look at a $1,084.03 budget transfer from the Assessor's Office from its revaluation account to fund a salary grade upgrade from "M" to "N" for the assistant assessor position.

Councilors will also review a transfer request from the City Clerk's Office to move $1,032.41 from its elections account to pay for the salary and grade change from "M" to "N" for the assistant city clerk position.

Both Assistant City Clerk Tricia Barker and Assistant Assessor Jill Brennan have taken on responsibilities under the city's new passport programs, along with the responsibilities of their positions.

"During these past few months, Jill has approved and signed off on dozens of passports," Raycroft wrote to the mayor. "The number of passport applications processed in Newburyport is expected to grow rapidly. This vital responsibility did not exist and was not included in the assistant assessor's job description when the city performed its review of positions within the assistants union."