Starkville’s lowest-paid employees will earn at least $10 per hour starting July 2017, and aldermen still must figure out how to financially cover the salary increase.
The board voted 4-3 Tuesday to increase the minimum worker rate by tying the issue with a pay hike that will boost salaries for the next administration.
Ward 7 Alderman Henry Vaughn’s approved motion also increases aldermen’s part-time annual pay from $15,000 to $20,000, while the mayor’s full-time pay jumps from $71,500 to $75,000.
A similar plan featuring the two pay increases and an additional 10 percent raise for the alderman elected vice mayor by his peers was pulled from the table last month after its author, Ward 5 Alderman Scott Maynard, said the “votes were in” on the issue.
Starkville has about 60 employees earning below $10 per hour, and 40 of those workers will remain below the threshold once a previously approved 3 percent raise is implemented Oct. 1.
Maynard’s plan was previously projected to cost the city almost $60,000 in 2016 and $21,000 in 2017. Salary compression issues — the problems created by increasing some employees’ pay rates without increasing others — would also have to be dealt with after minimum pay increases take effect in 2017.
City staff is working on a separate plan to accommodate wage increases and workforce development, Mayor Parker Wiseman said Tuesday as he asked aldermen to pump the brakes and allow the study to proceed.
“They have the important pieces of it together. I think it has the makings of a good opportunity to work on not only compensation issues, but also skill development within the ranks of our workforce,” Wiseman said before the vote. “I think the discussion of all this is untimely.”
Aldermen did not heed his concerns and moved forward with the issue. From the time Wiseman introduced the topic to his call of the vote, the board spent approximately 12 minutes on the matter.
The four aldermen supporting the matter Tuesday — Ward 2 Alderman Lisa Wynn, Ward 6 Alderman and Vice Mayor Roy A. Perkins, Maynard and Vaughn — did not say why they tied board salaries to the minimum pay issue.
Once in office, aldermen moved up a pending pay raise for themselves — $12,000 to $15,000 annually — and the mayor by a year while also increasing property taxes by 1.98 mills.
Echoing their June arguments, Tuesdays’ opponents said the minimum pay levels and board raises should be dealt with separately. Ward 1 Alderman Ben Carver attempted to divide the question, but his effort was defeated by the four-vote bloc that would later approve Vaughn’s original motion.
“I was appalled that this came back so soon. I think that the votes are in place. Often times when you get in here, you know how the votes are, and everybody across this table already knows how the vote’s going to go out,” he said. “We all know (July 1, 2017) is a false date. As time has told us, six months or a year will go by and it’ll be considered a pending pay raise and get voted in. If I were a betting man, I’d bet (the board’s pay raise is moved up) before this term is out.”
The additional $35,000 needed for board member’s annual salary is money the city should use for infrastructure projects, said Ward 4 Alderman Jason Walker. Instead, aldermen who are sure to be running for office again
“I think everybody at the table wants to be able to pay our city employees more, but the question is how you get there. We should not be giving ourselves a raise,” he said in reference to the likelihood of incumbents holding their seats next election cycle. “This goes beyond the optics of not looking good; it’s bad policy. This is a part-time job. If you’re interested in this being a full-time job, we advertise all the time for openings in city positions. If you want to work for the city, there might be an opportunity (for you).
“(Funding shortages for drainage and overlay issues) are real concerns,” Walker added. “All you have to do is look around the city. Despite the workers’ best efforts, we just can’t get to it all.”
Ward 3 Alderman David Little joined Carver and Walker in attempt to separate the two issues and against Vaughn’s motion.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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