WM Council approves final version of employee raise plan

WM Council approves final version of employee raise plan

City workers to receive 3- percent pay hike in 2018

news@theeveningtimes.com

West Memphis City Council moved unanimously to hand over another three percent to city employees during its final meeting of the year. During the first meeting in December the council voted in solidarity to give all the workers a three percent year end bonus. Money to fund the bonuses was found in accounts holding telephone and cable taxes and was recommended by the personnel committee. The new raises were approved for the start of the year, but the council had to pass a pair of measures to add the increase into the bottom line as the 2018 budget has not yet been approved.

The first order of business was a resolution to add the additional expenditure to a one-month holding-place budget for the month of January budget. The City Council had previously extended 1/12th of the equivalent of the 2017 budget to allow the city to do business next month. The measure added in the raises for city workers.

The raises are across-theboard, except for 911 dispatchers and utility lineman, who received competitive raises earlier in the year.

While talks in the budget committee for the last two years centered on tasking department heads with presenting wage analysis of comparable cites, only the police and utilities departments presented wage and salary studies for the budget committee to consider.

Sales tax reports showed city revenue flat for the year to date. However, City Council approved the raises on the recommendation of the committee without any wage surveys and in spite of stagnant revenues.

Budget chairman, Councilman Tracy Catt noted Mayor Bill Johnson had properly submitted a budget proposal by Dec. 1, as required by state law, but the budget hearings had not started.

Councilor Lorraine Robinson told council she was all for the raises but questioned what appeared to be an unorthodox procedure.

“We’ve approved 1/12th of our 2017 budget until we can get into our budget hearings,” said budget chairman Tracy Catt.

“Of all the years I’ve been on city council I’ve never known this to be done without having our work session on it,” said Robinson.

Catt conceded the procedure was unusual but not unprecedented. The eleventh-hour measures allowed the city to operate in January.

“You are correct; normally we don’t,” conceded Catt.

“ We have once or twice in the past 20 years I’ve been here. We are doing this so we can extend beyond the end of December.”

By John Rech