Town staff gets pay hike

Town employees recently got a pay raise. And for the first time in the town’s history, employees did not get the same percentage increase just because of a budgeted line item.

Raises vary by employee, but townwide, general employees received an overall 3.8% increase in pay for 2015-16.

Town Manager Dave Bullock allotted $214,800 for wage increases for approximately 100 general employees. Increases became effective Oct. 1.

Not everyone automatically received a raise.

But for the first year of Bullock’s new plan, only one general employee didn’t receive a raise.

Raises ranged from as low as 1.5% for a general employee to as high as 8.6% for Information Technology Director Jason Keen, whose salary rose from $93,017.60 last fiscal year to $100,984 this fiscal year as he shed the interim director role he assumed in the last fiscal year to become the IT Department’s permanent director.

And the only manager for the town who didn’t receive a raise was Bullock.

Bullock’s annual salary is $180,000, and he hasn’t received a raise since he was hired five years ago this month.

“I told the commission when my contract was negotiated that when they agreed to my salary, I wouldn’t request or accept anything more,” Bullock said. “That will continue as we move forward.”

Bullock’s new program focuses on what employees have done in the past year to earn a raise instead of giving increases based on whether they’re in the budget.

Bullock worked with Human Resources Manager Lisa Silvertooth and Key resident Ross Alander for more than a year to create a merit-based concept. Employees, managers and Bullock used an intranet site to formulate employee evaluations and wage increases.

Bullock ranked all employees on a score sheet of 0 to 3, with a “0” meaning performance was flat and a “3” meaning the employee exceeded expectations. 

The merit increases differ from employee step wage increases, which used to be given to employees based on years of service with the town. Employees have not received those step increases since 2008.

General employees last received a pay hike in 2013, when all town employees received a one-time 3% wage increase.

In four of the last eight fiscal years, employees received no wage increases.

Police union employees will receive 2% wage increases as negotiated through a union contract, and firefighter/paramedic wage increases are still under negotiation as part of a new three-year contract.

Firefighter/paramedics are also open to considering a hybrid version of Bullock’s new merit-based system during contract negotiations this summer.

Bullock said he was pleased how the system worked the first year.

“No one got up and ran out the door,” he said.

Bullock said he’s meeting with department heads soon to get input from them on the raises given to employees.

“That will give me good feedback to see how we can improve upon the process for next year,” Bullock said.