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Council divided over pausing market adjustments while considering 2% COLA to help employees
Summary
Members debated whether to continue mid‑market salary adjustments for public safety command staff or pause them while granting a 2% COLA; staff provided cost figures and warned that pausing market adjustments risks future catch‑up costs and recruitment losses in police and fire.
Councilors debated two competing approaches to employee compensation: continue targeted market adjustments for underpaid public‑safety leadership or pause those adjustments and give a general 2% cost‑of‑living adjustment across staff this year. Heather presented the numbers: "The 2% COLA is $233,392.60," and staff detailed that most market adjustments are concentrated in police and fire command staff. One council member argued, "We're spending a lot of money to be something we never achieve," noting repeated attempts to stay mid‑market without sustained results.
Opponents of pausing market adjustments warned that public‑safety recruitment and retention could suffer: one department head noted losing firefighters and drivers in recent years and described long training timelines for replacements. Council members settled on direction to carry a 2% COLA as part of the package while staff will model the distributional effects across funds and positions in the five‑year forecast.
