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Rowlett council supports Public Works entry-level pay increases and adding Juneteenth holiday
Summary
Council members backed a proposed Public Works hourly pay plan to raise entry pay for custodians and maintenance specialists to improve recruitment and retention, and signaled support to adopt Juneteenth as a paid city holiday; staff presented a funding split and projected costs.
Rowlett staff presented a proposal to create a separate Public Works hourly pay plan that raises entry pay for custodian and maintenance specialist positions to be competitive with a set of 18 comparison cities. Staff said the change focuses increases at the bottom of the pay ranges (about a 15% increase on the lowest steps for the first three positions) and estimated the total cost at roughly $426,000 spread across the general fund and the water/sewer fund.
Council members said turnover and recruitment problems in Public Works motivated support for the plan. "We've had a real turnover problem," a council member said. Council discussion focused on which grades and positions would be affected and how many slots exist per grade; staff confirmed the proposal is based on title-level grades rather than tenure steps and explained the first-year cost includes one-time vehicle costs for a new position if approved.
The council also considered adding Juneteenth as an official city holiday. Staff outlined options for regular employees, fire and police (different hour-banking for sworn staff). Several council members supported adopting Juneteenth as a city holiday and closing city offices that day, noting Texas origins and recent federal recognition.
Why it matters: the pay-plan proposal aims to reduce turnover in essential maintenance and service functions; the holiday change affects employee compensation and scheduling for sworn staff who require backfill.
Next steps: staff will include the pay-plan adjustments and holiday addition in the upcoming budget actions; council indicated support and staff will model ongoing costs for final budget adoption.
