Board debates growing overtime and whether to limit 2.5% COLA to lower pay grades

Aldermen devoted significant time to staffing costs after the city administrator and department heads presented overtime figures and explanations. One member summarized the change from 2021 to current projections and found overtime rising from around $285,000 in 2022 to a projected roughly $432,000 for 2025; after accounting for CPI and merit-driven salary increases there remained an unexplained portion of roughly $65,000 that likely stems from increased callouts and event coverage.

The police chief and other department leads explained that scheduled overtime (for 24/7 services, minimum-call pay, training and weekly guaranteed overtime for on‑call positions) and coverage for special events contribute materially. The chief noted minimum or guaranteed payments create persistent overtime baselines (for instance, detectives receiving an hour a day of guaranteed overtime or three-hour minimums on some callouts).

Alderman Ross proposed restricting a 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment to lower pay grades (level 10 and below) to retain recruiting leverage where vacancies are highest; other aldermen argued for giving a uniform 2.5% increase to all staff so the pay scale and entry levels remain competitive. No final, formal amendment was adopted during the meeting; aldermen asked departments for more detailed overtime breakdowns (standby pay, callouts, special events) and asked staff to validate examples and baseline scheduled overtime.

Next steps: staff will provide itemized overtime and scheduled-pay documentation and return with proposals that reconcile overtime drivers and options to manage or reduce discretionary overtime.