The Columbus City Council on Tuesday evening approved a pay raise for city employees next year, including first responders, in an effort to improve recruitment and retention.
The council passed a series of salary ordinances on second reading that included a roughly 16% increase for police salaries in 2024 and a 13.9% increase for firefighters. Additionally, salaries for the city’s civilian employees will increase up to 5% in 2024, with discretion left up to department heads based on performance.
Patrol officers will have a base salary of $70,000, with a maximum salary of $89,600. For firefighters, the base salary will be $66,031, with a maximum salary of $89,600.
The mayor’s salary for 2024 will be $113,764, a 5% increase compared to 2023. City council salaries will increase 4%, from $15,984 in 2023 to $16,464 in 2024. Additionally, the city is budgeting for nine members — as opposed to the current seven — due to the council’s decision to adopt second-class status for the city of Columbus starting in 2024, which required the city to expand the number of seats on the council.
Most city employees are expected to receive a raise that covers at least a cost-of-living adjustment, finance director Regina McIntyre said previously. However, she noted that this may not be true for those who are still in training or not meeting competency levels. Every raise is approved by both the department head and human resources.
The change to second-class status affects other positions as well. State code specifies that while third-class cities elect a clerk-treasurer, second class cities elect a clerk. Both positions fill the role of city clerk; however, the clerk-treasurer also serves as the city’s fiscal officer. In a second- class city, the fiscal officer is a city controller appointed by the mayor.
While the clerk-treasurer’s salary for 2023 is $89,848, the clerk’s salary for 2024 will be $75,600. McIntyre is set to become the city controller in 2024, once the change in class becomes official.
In addition to providing for potential pay adjustments, the salary ordinance for employees includes other changes as well, human resources director Arlette Cooper-Tinsley said previously.
For instance, instead of having an executive director of administration and community development, the city will shift to having an executive director of administration and a separate executive director of community development.
The city is also eliminating the executive director of public works position, which is currently held by Dave Hayward. Hayward said in a previous interview that he plans to retire at the end of the year.
There will also be a director of security and risk instead of a director of finance, operations and risk, said Cooper-Tinsley.
She added that the only proposed additional positions involve NexusPark. This includes five full-time positions and four part-time.
