Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Municipal Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Midwest City Council adopts roughly $210 million budget and approves two-year police and fire contracts
Summary
The Midwest City Council adopted a roughly $210 million city budget and approved two-year contracts for firefighters and police officers that include a 2% cost-of-living adjustment this year and staffing and promotion changes; the council also approved a 2% across-the-board increase for nonunion employees.
The Midwest City Council on a voice vote adopted the city's annual budget and approved two-year labor agreements for the fire and police unions that include cost-of-living adjustments and other personnel changes.
City staff presented the proposed budget as the result of months of departmental review and revenue forecasting, describing about $210 million in combined budgets. “This is the best budget we have put together,” the budget presenter said, and councilors repeatedly praised staff for a more streamlined budget process than in prior years.
Why it matters: the budget sets spending and pay priorities for core services, and the newly approved union contracts lock in pay adjustments and personnel rules that affect public safety staffing and promotions.
Details: staff said the presentation reflects a department-by-department review and revenue forecast centered on local sales tax. During the hearing, staff noted the city also lists several hundred million dollars in real property holdings. The council closed public comment after a resident praised the budget presentation and urged greater citizen attention to litter and property maintenance.
On labor contracts, council approved a two-year agreement with the firefighters' union that includes a $100-per-month residency incentive for employees who live in Midwest City, a revised promotion testing structure that pairs a 100-point written exam with a 100-point oral assessment and requires a minimum combined score (staff described a 70% combined threshold with component minimums), longevity-scale increases and a 2% COLA this year (a second 2% is conditional on next year's appropriation). City staff told council the firefighters were the last unit to agree to the residency incentive. The police contract approved by the council contains similar longevity increases and a 2% COLA and adjusts grievance-timing language to align with current software.
The council also approved a 2% across-the-board adjustment for nonunion and nonrepresented city employees (full- and part-time), which staff said is reflected in the adopted budget.
What comes next: With the budget and agreements adopted, the city will implement the pay changes through payroll and proceed with the fiscal-year work program the budget funds. Any appropriation-dependent provisions (a second-year COLA) will require future council appropriation.
