City ordinance could raise machinery operators’ salary

Full-time city equipment operators could receive a 5 percent pay increase if the city passes a pay ordinance, making the city’s minimum wage $15 per hour.

This pay raise would affect 34 equipment operators.

The new ordinance said the pay grade maximums “reflect economic growth recommendations.”

However, in City Manager Mike Matthes’ State of the City address on June 1, he said the overall city revenue will decline 2 percent.

City of Columbia Spokesperson Steve Sapp said city council members thought Matthes’ 2 percent revenue decline was “too conservative,” and changed it to a one percent decline in revenue.

The council asked every department within the city to revise their budgets and create room for pay raises, which Sapp said every department successfully did.

“It was really a tremendous exercise by all the departments to really cut even deeper than we already have,” he said.

“The second way (of cutting money) was going back to the departments and asking them where they could make deeper cuts, you know we had already made cuts across all the departments over the past couple of years – but where could we cut some more?” Sapp said.

The Parks and Recreation Department cut the emergency telephone services along trails in Columbia. Sapp said since people always have cell phones on them, the department felt it was reasonable to cut the phone services.

Sapp said the Columbia Police Department’s budget allowed for full-staffing, however Sapp said full-staffing has not been a reality for the department.

“There are savings that take place over the year because you simply are not at full staffing, so some of those monies came back over,” Sapp said.

ABC 17 News asked Sapp what happens if the two percent revenue decline becomes more likely than the one percent decline.

“If we start seeing that maybe the two percent was closer than what we thought it was going to be, then certainly we’ll take measures at that point to make sure that the budget is balanced.

Sapp said he doesn’t know where the money would come from right now if the two percent decline were to happen. “Right now that will be an exercise that takes place if and when we get there,” Sapp said.

Sapp said job cuts are, “never out of the realm that we might look at that at some point but that’s certainly always always our last resort.”

The city would have a hiring freeze before any job cuts would take place, but Sapp said the city is already 30 percent understaffed.

“We try to steer clear of layoffs, we try to steer clear of service cuts, but at some point the balance has to be there to do either of those,” Sapp said.

If the council votes to amend the current pay plan, the employees’ new pay scale will start on Sept. 23.

City council has submitted 27 budget amendments and is expected to make a final decision Monday.

Sapp said “everything points” to a final city council vote on the budget for its meeting, but he could not guarantee it.

“It all boils back to it’s a council decision,” Sapp said.

The entire new pay plan includes the following items:

A $2 per hour pay raise for trash collectors Minimum wage would be $15 per hour for all full-time permanent city employees, except for 56-hour employees, who have a minimum wage of $10.714 Current city equipment operators receive a 5 percent increase in pay or the new minimum pay, whichever is higher The city currently has 12 permanent full-time job openings with most of the openings offering more than $15 per hour to start The city estimates it will cost $869,000 total to make the minimum wage $15 an hour If the council does not amend and approve a budget by Sept. 30, the proposed manager’s budget is approved automatically and goes into affect Oct. 1