City amends compensation plan to raise police starting pay to $25 an hour amid retention concerns

Greenwood aldermen voted to approve amendments to the 2026 employee compensation plan that add several staffed positions to the plan and raise the police starting rate. Staff said the non‑police additions (seasonal groundskeeper, finance specialist Carrie Carlson, billing and code enforcement officer Don Morris, city clerk and assistant city administrator) are formalizations for positions already filled.

The key policy change addressed police pay: staff proposed raising the tier‑0 starting rate from $23.12 to $25 per hour to address pay compression and improve recruitment and retention. The plan also sets a 3% annual tier increase and adjusts promotion tiers; staff said the changes would solve compression concerns discussed in the budget workshop. Some aldermen objected to automatically locking a 3% progression into the written plan and recommended creating handbook language tying tier increases to performance or preserving board discretion. Staff responded they could draft handbook guidance and return with clarified procedures; staff also said they did not expect immediate budget issues and that the increases were already included in the budget assumptions.

After discussion about handbook language and implementation details, the board approved the compensation‑plan amendments by voice vote. Staff said they will draft handbook updates so the board can clarify how performance and tier progression interact with the written plan.