Smithville Aldermen Tuesday night met in special session and adopted a new ordinance on first reading setting a wage scale for salaried city employees. Hourly employees will continue to be paid according to the existing wage scale. In fact the only change regarding hourly employees will be that the aldermen will decide each year whether or not to budget a cost of living pay raise for them
Second and final reading action on this ordinance will be scheduled following a public hearing at another special meeting set for Thursday, September 16th at 7:00 p.m. at city hall.
Last week, Mayor Taft Hendrixson presented a proposed new wage scale ordinance, which he said would have addressed the problem of pay inequities among city employees. It was intended to apply only to new employees hired after July 1st, 2010.
Mayor Hendrixson said last week that with the proposed new wage scale, city employees hired after July 1st, 2010 would have received starting hourly pay, comparable to the old wage scale, but they would have gotten a fifty cent per hour step increase each year up to four years, effective on the anniversary date of employment, in lieu of cost of living raises. After four years, these same employees would only have received a yearly cost of living increase, if the city aldermen were to vote to give a COLA raise each year.
Last night, Mayor Hendrixson announced that the proposal he offered last week was being dropped as far as the hourly employees is concerned and that they would continue to be paid according to the existing wage scale. “The hourly employees revert back, and it’s in this budget in ordinance #430, that using the old wage scale, just like it was before anything was done to it, except the salaried employees.”
Under the current wage scale, city employees with less than four years of service will continue to receive a regular step increase in pay until they top out on the wage scale. Annual cost of living raises will no longer be automatic. COLAs will be determined by the board of aldermen each year.
Last night, the aldermen voted unanimously to budget a 3.4% cost of living raise for all hourly city employees for the 2010-11 fiscal year. So hourly employees with less than four years of service will receive their step raise on the pay scale with a cost of living adjustment while hourly employees who have topped out on the wage scale with over four years of service will only receive the cost of living increase.
The new ordinance setting the wage scale for salaried employees states that “Wages for the Secretary-Treasurer, Police Chief, Building Inspector, Airport Manager, and City Judge will be as outlined on the official wage scale chart each budget year. Any cost of living increase is subject to Board approval each year for all city employees, and shall be established by the cost of living as determined by the Federal Government. The Secretary-Treasurer, Police Chief, City Judge, Building Inspector, and Airport Manager are salaried officials, with salaries established and approved by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen each year.”
“In setting the wages for employees, the Mayor and Board of Aldermen may consider the prior work experience, or extraordinary ability of such employee.”
“Any employee hired by the City that requires a certification will be given eighteen months to become certified or they will be subject to dismissal.”
The new budget reveals the salaries of each of these employees:
Police Chief: $46,800 plus a one percent bonus to equal $47,268 total salary
Secretary-Treasurer: $48,443 plus a one percent bonus to equal $48,928 total salary
Airport Manager: $28,950 plus a one percent bonus to equal $29,239 total salary
Part-time Building Inspector: $16,477 plus a one percent bonus to equal $16,641 total salary
City Judge: $12,000 per year.
Archived News & Obituaries