Committee approves pay-plan increases for general employees, police, fire and health; several grants and resolutions pass on consent

The Metro Nashville Council Budget & Finance Committee approved new pay plans effective July 1, 2025, for three groups of employees and passed a number of grant acceptances and routine resolutions on the consent agenda.

Pay plans approved: - RS 2025-1258: A new pay plan for general employees (excluding Board of Health, Board of Education, Police and Fire) was amended to include an additional 1% across-the-board increase; the committee recorded the amendment and then passed the resolution (vote recorded at 9 in favor, 0 opposed, 1 not voting on the amendment; final resolution recorded as 9 in favor, 0 opposed, 1 not voting). HR Director Shannon Hall told the committee that total market and graded adjustments vary by pay grade and that employees will see a range of increases depending on market adjustments and the across-the-board increment. - RS 2025-1259: A new pay plan for Metropolitan Departments of Police and Fire was similarly amended to add the 1% across-the-board increment; committee votes on the amendment and final resolution were recorded in committee (both passed; committee reported 9 in favor, 0 opposed for the amendment and final motion). - RS 2025-1260: A new pay plan for the Metropolitan Board of Health was amended with 1% across-the-board and the resolution passed (committee recorded 9 in favor, 0 opposed for amendment and passage).

Consent-item highlights (passed on the consent agenda unless removed): The committee approved dozens of routine grant acceptances and cooperative purchasing agreements, including but not limited to: - RS 2025-1296 through RS 2025-1316: grant acceptances and appropriations for the Office of the Mayor, Juvenile Court (Safe Baby Court), Metro Juvenile and Community Correction grants, Davis County Human Relations appropriation from Community Foundation grants, cooperative purchasing master agreements, amendments to viral hepatitis programming and parks-related in-kind grants, and other routine resolutions described in the consent list. - BL 2025-848 and BL 2025-849 (bills on second reading listed on the consent agenda): BL 2025-848 authorizes an EMS training agreement for Ascension Saint Thomas School of EMS students; BL 2025-849 authorizes amendment 3 to a contract for Digitech Computer LLC for emergency medical billing and collection services. Both were on the consent agenda and passed as part of the consent routine.

Other committee actions and appropriations: - RS 2025-1300: Committee approved appropriating $17,810,300 from the general fund reserve for equipment and building repairs across multiple departments (committee vote recorded 9 in favor, 0 opposed, 0 not voting). - RS 2025-132? (late-file and other grant amendments): The committee approved several late-file grant amendments and appropriations for the Barnes Fund and AfterZone Alliance grants as presented in the meeting.

Why it matters: Pay-plan changes affect thousands of city employees and were described by HR as a combination of across-the-board increases plus market-adjusted changes targeted at specific job ranges. Consent resolutions fund multiple ongoing services and nonprofit grants in areas such as youth programming, public health, parks, and victim services.

Taper: The committee approved the pay plans and the majority of consent items and sent the items forward according to the council calendar.