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Lebanon council approves one‑time $5,000 stipend for full‑time city employees
Summary
The Lebanon Common Council approved two resolutions to provide a one‑time $5,000 stipend to each full‑time city employee, funded from a $1.8 million state income‑tax distribution and existing LIT public‑safety funds; public safety and civil staff payments come from separate fund lines.
The Lebanon Common Council voted July 27 to grant a one‑time $5,000 stipend to each full‑time city employee, citing a prior pay freeze and recent state income‑tax distributions. Mayor (chair) said the city received about $1.8 million in a one‑time state distribution and will use separate Local Income Tax (LIT) public‑safety funds for police and fire stipends.
"What's proposed is a $5,000 stipend per employee," the mayor said during the council’s budget discussion, describing the payment as a one‑time recognition for staff after a year in which Lebanon froze salaries while neighboring communities did not. City staff explained public‑safety stipends will come from the LIT public‑safety fund; other civil employees will be paid from the state distribution line. Two appropriation resolutions were opened to public hearing and then approved by voice vote.
Speakers at the public hearing supported the payments. John Messenger, the city parks director, told the council: "I think it's fantastic … the employees work very hard daily." Sam Kornix, district vice president for the firefighters union, said Lebanon was one of the few local departments that froze wages and offered to make comparative data available to council members.
Council members emphasized the payment is not a base salary increase and will not change employees’ ongoing pay rates. The mayor said future budget cycles will address longer‑term salary adjustments. Both resolutions passed on voice votes with council approval; the council recorded no opposing roll call during the meeting.
Next steps: the council adopted the appropriation resolutions on July 27; payroll staff will implement the stipend disbursement in accordance with payroll and tax rules. The council said elected officials are excluded from the stipend.
