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Rapid City committee approves 3% salary adjustment for nonunion employees after debate
Summary
The City of Rapid City Legal/Finance Committee approved a 3% cost-of-living salary adjustment for nonunion employees that affects roughly 229 workers. Council members debated timing, equity and whether a fixed-dollar supplement might better help lower-paid staff.
The City of Rapid City Legal/Finance Committee approved a 3% annual salary adjustment for nonunion, benefited employees during its May 20 meeting after a motion to table the item failed.
Councilman Bill Evans had moved to table the measure, saying some council members felt “blindsided” and wanted time to review the city’s upcoming budget before authorizing pay changes. “Based upon some phone calls from some other council members, I feel that we need to delay action on this for a bit until we’ve decided what our budget is actually going to be for the upcoming year,” Evans said.
The city attorney and finance staff told the committee the increase had already been included in the adopted 2025 budget and was consistent with prior practice. Daniel Ainsley, the finance director, said the adjustment represents an annualized CPI increase capped at 3% and noted union increases had been handled earlier in the year. Ainsley confirmed the raise was included in last year’s budget and described the action as the formal authorization of that budgeted cost.
Evans and other council members pressed staff for details on who is affected and the total cost. Finance staff later reported the adjustment would apply to about 229 employees across multiple departments, including police, fire, public works, parks, IT and finance; staff said they would provide a total dollar cost after the meeting. Evans argued the percentage raise disproportionately benefits higher-paid employees and suggested exploring a fixed-dollar increase to better help lower-wage staff. “If you’re earning $108,200 a year, this 3% is really great. But if you’re earning $35,000, that could be the difference between getting your bills paid or not,” Evans said.
Several council members, including Councilmember Kevin Maher, voiced support for the CPI-based adjustment and emphasized it was customary and budgeted. After discussion, Councilmember Josh Bieberdorf moved to approve the salary adjustment; the motion was seconded by Councilmember Maher and carried.
The committee did not adopt Evans’s motion to table; that motion failed on a procedural vote earlier in the discussion. Finance staff committed to provide the committee with the precise fiscal impact and a roster of affected positions to answer outstanding cost and head-count questions.
The committee moved on to the next agenda item after approving the adjustment.
