Council adopts employee pay schedule; holds hearing on executive officers and sets justice court judge pay

The Centerville City Council on Tuesday adopted Ordinance 2025-11, updating the city’s employee compensation schedule for fiscal year 2026 to reflect a 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) and the associated midpoint shift for pay ranges.

The change is intended to keep pay ranges aligned with market movement so employees do not reach the top of their grade quickly, city Finance Director Nate Pazier told the council during the staff presentation. Pazier said the adopted schedule raises the midpoint by 2.5% and adjusts minimums and maximums around that midpoint.

The council also held the statutorily required public hearing on executive municipal officer compensation. Pazier explained that state legislation requires notice and a hearing prior to final budget adoption; the hearing covers positions defined in local code as municipal executive officers — a list he read that included the city manager, city attorney, police chief and lieutenant, administrative services director, community development director, finance director, parks and recreation director, public works director, and the supervisors for drainage, streets and water. The hearing does not itself require a separate council vote; salaried changes for executives are implemented through the overall budget process and the city’s merit-allocation practice, Pazier said.

On the municipal justice court judge’s pay, the council adopted Resolution 2025-07 after staff explained state rules for part-time judge compensation. Pazier explained that state statute sets a full-time justice court salary range and the Administrative Office of the Courts compares a city’s workload to full-time workload to set a part‑time judge range. Centerville’s judge was allocated 31% of a full-time workload; staff recommended and council adopted placing the judge at the top of the part-time range, $61,170.75, because state rules require that a judge’s salary not be reduced during a term and that the judge be paid at least the average pay increase granted to city employees.

Council members voted unanimously on the employee compensation ordinance and on the judge’s compensation resolution. During discussion council members asked procedural questions about how midpoints and minimums are calculated and confirmed that a proposed code-enforcement position is not included in the adopted schedule; staff said a job description would be presented and the schedule amended if the council moves forward with that hire.

No public comments were made during the related hearings.