June 10, 2024 |
Photo – Rawlins City Hall – Bigfoot99 file photo
After serious debate last week, the Rawlins city council voted to increase city employee salaries across the board. During the first reading of the 2024-25 fiscal year budget, the Rawlins city council asked if was possible to increase the salaries of city workers.
City Manager Tom Sarvey had an answer for the governing body’s question. Sarvey said he initially suggested that the city use $300,000 saved by switching health insurance providers to pay for the raises.
Currently, the city pays for employees’ medical expenses. Sarvey suggested changing to the Wyoming Educators Benefit Trust insurance program to save roughly $300,000 a year.
However, Sarvey explained to the council that the $300,000 savings was needed to help the city cover a $2.3 million budget deficit. The city manager said the money is no longer available to cover employee raises.
Sarvey said adding $300,000 to employee salaries would equate to a five percent pay raise across the board. The city manager suggested using the additional revenue generated from wind turbine construction projects to cover the cost of the raises.
Sarvey said the wind turbine projects are expected to last for five years. The city will need to figure out how to pay for the raises once the projects are completed, said Sarvey, essentially kicking the problem down the road.
Mayor Terry Weickum said he expects the city to receive additional income from the wind turbines long after the current projects are finished. Using that money, Mayor Weickum said the city can sustain the additional money needed to sustain the employee salaries.
2024 is an election year. Weickum is running for election to represent State House District 15.
Councilwoman Jacquelin Wells said she supports a cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA. However, Councilwoman Wells said instead of everyone receiving a five percent raise, the city should perform a salary study to ensure that employees are being paid the correct amount.
City Manager Sarvey asked the council if they would like to approve the five percent pay increase and schedule a salary study in the future or delay employee raises until the salary study is completed. Mayor Weickum and Councilwomen Wells and Tonya Lewman all agreed that they should approve the salary increase first.
Councilman Chris Weisenburg said he doesn’t support a five percent raise for all city employees. Councilman Weisenburg said they can not be sure that the wind turbine projects will contribute enough money to indefinitely pay for the increased salaries.
Councilman Weisenburg said he supports a cost-of-living adjustment, but said the city should perform a salary study before moving forward with salary increases to ensure they aren’t overpaying certain employees.
Mayor Weickum said the pay raise will barely cover the toll inflation has had on city employees. The mayor said he supports the increase.
Councilman Weisenburg asked what services councilmembers would discontinue if the wind turbine money doesn’t continue past five years. Mayor Weickum said no one on the council can predict the future.
Vice Mayor Steve Sanger said rising inflation drives up the amount of sales tax collected by the city. Vice Mayor Sanger said he expects to continue receiving higher-than-predicted sales tax revenue for the foreseeable future. The increased sales tax should easily offset the cost of employee raises, said the vice mayor.
Councilman Weisenburg said the proposed budget shows that the city hasn’t received additional inflation-related sales tax revenue. The councilman said he’s concerned that by approving the raises now, the city may have to cut services in the future.
Councilwoman Wells said the city needs to do something to entice employees to stay. The councilwoman said a five percent pay raise will help offset the impact inflation has had on city employees.
Mayor Weickum predicted that the city’s tax base will continue to grow into the future. The mayor said he is comfortable gambling on sustained growth to pay for the employee salary increase.
After a lengthy discussion, the Rawlins city council voted to approve the next fiscal year’s budget, including the five percent city employee raise. The budget will be read for a third and final time during a special meeting on Thursday, June 13th.
