Warr Acres approves one-time step increase for nonexempt noncontract employees

The Warr Acres City Council approved a resolution providing a one-time step increase for nonexempt, noncontract city employees, including an adjustment for employees already at or above the top step.

Staff presented a spreadsheet showing the immediate fiscal impact and projected revenue figures. The one-time cost to advance employees one step was described as about $12,907 for the current year; staff also provided an alternate total (approximately $51,000) if adjustments for employees already above top step were included. The resolution as adopted included the broader adjustment for those topped-out employees.

City staff framed the action as a one-time correction that does not reinstate an ongoing annual step plan; the resolution explicitly does not change employees’ anniversary dates or automatically restart recurring step increases. The council heard that police and fire employees had received separate raises earlier in 2024 under contract and that noncontract employees had been frozen for several years.

Council members asked about long-term budget impacts, whether the city could sustain annual raises, and whether a comparable retroactive payment was appropriate (staff advised retroactive raises were legally problematic for noncontract employees but that a one-time bonus could be structured to deliver comparable cash without changing base pay).

After discussion, councilmember motions carried and the resolution passed by roll call. Councilmembers recorded votes in favor; the clerk recorded the motion outcome.