Sammamish city employees urge council to revise merit pay plan, seek retroactive raises

Local 1425 representatives on Tuesday urged the Sammamish City Council to revisit a newly implemented merit-pay proposal and seek a pay system that recognizes employees who meet the city's performance expectations.

Darcy Donovan, president of Local 1425, said the city and union jointly developed a new evaluation system rolled out earlier this year but that the city now proposes awarding raises only to employees who "exceed expectations." Donovan said that approach leaves employees who "meet expectations" feeling unvalued and could harm morale and retention.

Donovan told the council that the union "asks that city council direct the city manager's office to work with the union to develop a merit pay system that fairly and equitably compensates employees who meet the city's expectations," and that any agreement should be retroactive to Jan. 1, 2025. She added the funding for employee raises was included in the city's adopted 2025–26 budget.

Roger Mueller, the union's staff representative assigned to represent Local 1425 City of Sammamish employees, said the union had proposed multiple alternatives at the bargaining table that were rejected. "Whatever level of trust existed between the employees and the city is now gone," Mueller said.

Council did not take action during the meeting; the item was introduced as public comment and council later convened into a closed session on collective bargaining. Donovan and Mueller asked the council to direct the city manager to negotiate jointly with the union and to ensure the city honors funding already included in the adopted 2025–26 budget.