Bristol council adopts 0.5% one‑time employee bonus over lone dissent

The Bristol City Council voted 4‑1 on June 24 to adopt Ordinance 25‑5, authorizing a one‑time 0.5% monetary bonus for city officers and employees.

Public commenter Lee Jones urged the council not to extend the bonus, saying the decision to include employees excluded from the 2025 raise "is unjust and contradicts the council's previous statements about cutting the budget." City Manager Randall Eads and councilmembers responded that the bonus is a one‑time distribution funded from one‑time revenue and is intended to help retain employees; staff said employees in fully funded departments would not receive the bonus.

Council conducted a second reading of the ordinance and then moved to adopt it. Both the second reading and the adoption motions passed with four votes in favor (Neal Osborne, Anthony Farnum, Becky Nave and Jake Holmes) and one opposed (Michael Pollard). The motions were seconded and recorded per council procedure.

Council members discussed retention and fairness concerns before voting. The city manager also noted fiscal constraints related to the tax rate, saying the tax rate could not have been lowered to 62 cents and that an 80‑cent rate would have been the lowest possible if certain equalization steps had been taken.

With adoption, the ordinance authorizes the one‑time bonuses described in the caption read by the city manager. Implementation details — including which positions are excluded because their departments are fully funded — will be handled by city administration under the adopted ordinance.