Council debates $2/hour raise, police incentives and open union negotiations

Nogales councilmembers on May 20 debated whether to approve a $2-per-hour across-the-board increase for city employees or pursue targeted incentive pay for public-safety staff as part of ongoing labor negotiations.

Councilmember Barra asked whether the $2 figure applied to all city employees, including public safety, and pressed for higher pay for police officers. Sergio, the finance staff, explained that the budget includes an “incentive pay” line showing $2,500 per eligible officer split across the year and that one option under consideration was increasing that incentive to $5,000 annually, which staff calculated would add roughly $2.40 in annual value for those officers if structured as incentive pay.

Puckett told the council that labor agreements are being negotiated and that ‘‘negotiations can only be fruitful if they are negotiated between the designees of both parties’’ — the city manager for management and union officers for labor — and urged council members not to negotiate privately with labor representatives. He warned that ad hoc council negotiations could undercut the process: “If this is what you're gonna do today, then we don't need to negotiate those contracts anymore,” he said.

Retention vs. recruitment: Police chief Jimenez said retention is crucial and argued that any increase should consider the entire department, including non-officer public-safety staff. Puckett recommended incentives tied to retention milestones (for example, at the three-year mark) rather than a one-time across-the-board raise that may not keep officers after competitors raise pay.

Council members expressed competing priorities: some pressed for targeted raises for public safety to make openings competitive; others warned that the tentative budget already depended on reserve spending and cautioned against creating permanent salary obligations. Puckett said the $2-per-hour proposal increases expenditures by approximately $1.6 million and would add another $1.6 million for a further $2 increase if applied citywide (estimates discussed in the meeting), figures staff said will appear in next-year budget projections.

What’s next: Puckett said negotiation sessions would continue next week and staff will return with refined proposals; council members asked staff to consider equity, retention metrics, and possible incentive structures rather than immediate across-the-board increases.