Council reviews staff pay proposals: 3% COLA, 5% merit pool, judge raise and prosecutor increase

City staff told the council the proposed FY2026 budget includes a 3% cost‑of‑living adjustment for employees and a 5% merit pool along with a request for one new administrative position to support front‑counter and permitting work.
"The employees, we the council agreed the employees will get a 3% COLA for FY '26. They also agreed that the employees will get a 5% merit pool," the presenter said. Staff also reported total wages of roughly $4.96 million for all employees in the proposed budget.
The presenter said the municipal judge requested a raise and the council approved a specified dollar increase plus a 3% adjustment. The council discussed the prosecutor, who is a contract employee; after discussion council members said they would give the prosecutor a 3% raise, with one council member confirming agreement in the workshop.
Staff reviewed exempt and nonexempt employee classifications and said the city implemented an overtime budget to avoid comp‑time double‑payments; staff said exempt employees are generally not eligible for overtime while nonexempt employees will be eligible for overtime under the new budgeted approach. The presenter noted that nonexempt employees who previously received comp time and then cashed it out were effectively paid at time‑and‑a‑half in some circumstances, which prompted the change to a budgeted overtime approach.
The council discussed reassigning a permit clerk to handle increased permitting activity and creating a new administration position to help front counter operations; no formal vote was recorded on the new hire during the workshop.