Republic file photo Columbus City Hall.
Columbus City Council members have unanimously approved on second reading five ordinances to set salaries for a range of city employees next year, including first responders.
The council approved 4% salary increases for mayor, city clerk and city council members. They also approved 4% increases for fire and police personnel, along with city employees.
The salaries are informed by two cycles of a market-based compensation study the city has commissioned and an adjustment for cost-of-living. The compensation study includes salary minimums, midpoints and maximums. Salary minimums are a suggested beginning salary and increases to above the midpoint for city employees must be approved by a department head and City Human Resources Director Arlette Cooper-Tinsley. Increases above the salary midpoint for civilian non-sworn public safety officers are merit-based.
The following are salaries for next year members approved:
- Mayor: $118,315 (up from $113,764 in 2024)
- Clerk: $78,624 (up from $75,600 in 2024)
- City council members: $17,123 (up from $16,464 in 2024)
Patrol officers will have a base salary of $72,800 with a maximum salary of $93,184. For firefighters, the base salary will be $68,672, with a maximum salary of $93,184.
“This is a base pay increase of 4%,” Cooper-Tinsley said of the increase for first responders, noting that longevity also dictates increases for public safety personnel.
The 4% increase for city employees falls with the range already outlined in the compensation study, according to Cooper-Tinsley.
“The range did not change. We basically did an evaluation to determine if there was anyone that needed an increase. There’s about 14 positions that needed adjustment in the range, but this will allow, along with the budget that’s under consideration, for a 4% increase.”
The city uses a performance evaluation process for their employees that also informs how much of an increase a city employee receives.
Human Resources will likely come back to council sometime next year with a request to adjust salary ranges again. In order to fully fund every position in the study to the current midpoint, it would take an additional $250,000, per Cooper-Tinsley.
“If we’re going to be moving everyone 4%, it does seem like it would make sense for the range itself to move,” Council member Elaine Hilber, D-district 2, said. “If we pay for the salary study, I would want to execute what comes out of it and actually fully fund that to midpoint.”
“The 4% is dependent on performance and COLA (cost-of-living adjustment),” Cooper-Tinsely responded. “I think right now we’re looking at potentially a 3% COLA and a 1% merit. There’s room within the ranges to give that, and (the city’s compensation consultant) doesn’t believe in moving the ranges until they’re fully-funded. She believes it’s a step-ladder process, but council decides whether to follow that advice or not.”
However a COLA adjustment for city employees may not be given “if they need improvement,” Cooper-Tinsley said. Some employees, for example, may receive a 1% or 2% COLA adjustment.
Council President Frank Miller, R-District 4 said he thought every employee should receive a COLA (cost of living adjustment) adjustment, if that’s what it’s going to be referred to as.
Executive Director of Administration Eric Frey chimed in to say it’s really a matter of semantics.
“The term COLA, I think is a standard term that is a little misleading. And I think everybody assumes that you get the cost of living, I’ve always thought of it as a factoring. You figure, this is the number of the cost-of-living— 1%, but you’re still saying you have a range of 4% to do a performance evaluation to say they’re producing or not producing, and then you have that range to offer. That was my understanding.”
Council member Chris Bartels, R-District 1, asked if the city had ever considered some sort of bonus program.
Something like that would be legal, and Cooper-Tinsley said she had presented that idea internally.
“If it’s council’s will that they want to everyone to get 3% (COLA), I can’t speak for the administration, but I think we can definitely talk about that,” she said, going on to say that Department of Public Works Director Bryan Burton actually would prefer more of a merit system and factor things such as COLA less.
“I think this is a topic of discussion we need to have going forward to clarify our wording and how we term COLA,” Miller said. “Are we going to not use the term COLA anymore? I think there are employees out there that are ‘expecting’ 3%, and so I think it comes back to us working together between the administration and the council to figure out that wording going forward.”
