Oak Ridge staff propose fiscal plan prioritizing animal shelter, pay increases and key capital projects

City staff laid out a proposed fiscal-year budget that combines employee compensation adjustments with several capital projects and software upgrades. The package includes a 3% cost-of-living adjustment and a 2% step increase, additional staffing reclassifications and 16 position requests; staff said they added nine of those positions and completed four reclassifications during the process. "I'm proposing a step increase of 2% and a 3%, COLA, this year," the presenter said, framing the plan as an effort to keep pay competitive while phasing deeper classification reviews every three years.