Lincoln City Council
Aldermen begin exploration of longevity pay for non-union employees

 

[January 14, 2025] 

At the Tuesday night Committee of the Whole meeting of the Lincoln City Council, Alderman Kevin Bateman introduced a discussion topic and prefaced it by saying that it was not a topic that would go to a voting agenda any time soon. Rather it would stay as a tabled item at future COW meetings until a time when it should be voted upon.

He said that he and Alderwoman Wanda Lee Rohlfs had talked about this beforehand and was looking at how to reward employees for years on the job.

Bateman said that there is a longevity clause in the union contract, but this was strictly for non-union employees. In the union sector, he said there are premium percentages added to an employee’s base pay starting at the employee’s four-year anniversary.

He said in the union, there are anniversary years, and the higher the anniversary the higher the percentage that is added. He said that these can start at a four percent addition at the four-year anniversary and go all the way up to 28 percent addition at the 20-year mark.

He explained that the addition was calculated on the original base pay for the job. So, if an employee was hired at $43,000 per year, in year four that person would get an amount equivalent to four percent of the original 43K. The longevity increase would be in addition to the COLA or Cost of Living increase given annually.

If the COLA was four percent and the anniversary was year four the employee would earn an increase of $1,720 + 1,720 for a total of $46,440.

It an employee’s base pay was the same 43K and based on the union longevity scale of 20% for a 20-year anniversary that employee would earn $8,600 in longevity plus the 4 percent COLA.

Bateman said that was prohibitive for non-union staff, but he could suggest that the city set a two percent increase for each anniversary milestone starting with 4 years.

He said that with the same percentage the employee would receive an increase at the four-year mark, seven year, nine year, 11 and etcetera each time for the same dollar amount. And again, this would be in addition to the annual COLA raises.

Alderman Steve Parrott said that doing the math based on roughly a three percent COLA that is based on the current wage regardless of the base amount or the year, the result would be that a 27-year employee would be earning double or triple the amount of the base or starting wage. He said that would bring some staff into the region of $80,000 to $90,000.

Bateman said the idea being presented was not something that would apply to employees already in place, but it would be for the future.

Rohlfs said that this topic was discussed last year and the council and talked about what to consider when setting a base pay and wages. She said that in other industries such as education, there are rewards and incentives for furthering education or training that enhance the employees’ job performance, increases their value, and adds to their personal resume’. She said the city doesn’t have that type of offering for the non-union employees.

It was noted that the non-union payroll in Lincoln consists of only eight clerical staff, so the number of people and the amount of money invested is not going to be outrageous.

Rohlfs concluded saying this was just an idea, something to think about, talk about, and maybe something to build on as the council approaches budget time.

Alderwoman Rhonda O’Donoghue said that she found this conversation confusing and concerning. She said that yes there needed to be an established base for a job duty, but there also needed to be a cap, or the maximum amount that a job duty would pay. She said to think that someone could earn $80K was alarming.

Bateman said that there were already staff in the city making those kinds of numbers.

O’Donohue said she could understand that the pay should be comparable to the job skill, but there needed to be caps on pay based on the different levels of skill required to perform the job.

She also wanted to know who voted on the contracts for those employees in question. A reminder was given that the discussion pertained only to non-union employees for which there are no contracts.

Alderwoman Robin McClallen asked Bateman if he had heard anyone say they were not satisfied with their pay. Bateman said that was a question for the department heads not him.

Assistant Police Chief Matt Comstock was sitting in for Chief Meister and asked to speak. He said that his department has two clerical staff, and they are both of great value to the department. He mentioned that one had just completed training for specialized services within the department and was also in charge of the evidence room, while another is very sharp and can access and retain information that makes Comstock’s administrative duties much easier.

He said that when he and Meister work on the annual budget, they take into consideration these two staff and they request rate increases accordingly. He said he did feel that the department heads are the best ones to evaluate staff and determine their wage increases.

City Treasurer Chuck Conzo said that he was about to say something similar. He said he felt the topic was already becoming far more complicated than it needed to be, and that yes, department heads should be able to bring their requests to the budget committee. If the request is within the department’s budget constraints, then the council should approve it, but if not, then let those issues be discussed.

C9omcstock said another factor to consider is what the same job description can earn in nearby communities. He said for example if a job is paying $45,000 in Lincoln but $75,000 in Morton, the employee will consider going to Morton.

Rohlfs said that in addition to all this, the council doesn’t always know what particular staff do that is special to their department and an asset to the city that might not be found in future employees or applicants.

She said the council needs to know and understand these things, then they can consider one person might be more deserving than another.

Mayor Tracy Welch said that was a good argument for Conzo’s position that the department heads should budget the raises.

Bateman said that he has been in favor of that all along. He said that the department heads know their employees and know how they should be paid. He said the council’s job was to look at the budget and approve the budget, and it was Conzo’s job to say yes this budget is within the city’s means.

Bateman said this put him on the fence, as he was leaning now toward letting the department heads do their job, and let the council and treasurer do their job of determining if the budget is sustainable.

He closed saying that he wanted to be very clear that he was not talking about making any changes to existing employee pay rates. This topic Bateman said would be to address future hires only and would have no impact on current employees.

[Nila Smith]