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Draft budget raises pay across city workforce; council told changes improve recruitment but won't close market gap
Summary
The FY26 draft budget includes pay increases: a 10% agreement for fire civil-service personnel, a proposed 8% increase for police civil service, and a 6% base increase for other employees; staff also proposed reducing TMRS vesting from 10 to 5 years and adding several positions.
Wichita Falls — City staff said the FY26 draft budget increases employee compensation across major groups and funds several new positions intended to improve operations and recruitment.
At the Aug. 12 meeting, staff listed three compensation elements: a 10% pay increase for fire civil-service personnel under a reported agreement; a proposed 8% increase for police civil service base pay; and a 6% base increase for all other city employees. Steven Calvert said the package “is a step in the right direction” though he added, “Are we there yet? No. But we've made significant strides in the right direction.”
Why it matters: pay changes affect recruiting, retention, and the city budget’s recurring personnel costs.
Human-resources context: Christy (staff) presented comparative peer benchmarks and told council that hourly employees were about 10% behind the new peer average, salary positions about 5% behind, fire 18% behind, police about 10% behind, and director levels about 10% behind — figures presented before the proposed FY26 increases.
Additional benefits and staffing changes in the draft include: - A proposal to reduce the TMRS vesting period from 10 to 5 years (staff said this aligns the city with most peers). - A compensation study funded for the next fiscal year to identify further gaps and options. - New or reclassified positions in the draft budget: an employee-relations coordinator, a wildfire coordinator (to be funded externally if possible, but included in the budget if outside funding is not secured), a building-maintenance supervisor, a graphic-design/webmaster role in public information, and an additional police officer to handle homeless-relations duties.
Discussion vs. decisions: staff described the agreements and proposed pay increases; for some items — the fire increase — staff reported an agreement already in place. The police increase was described as a proposed agreement. Council did not take a separate vote on compensation at the Aug. 12 meeting; staff said the details would be reflected in the final adopted budget if approved.
Ending: Staff asked the council to approve the overall budget schedule and provide feedback on priorities; a compensation study is scheduled for the coming year to refine market alignment.
