The Zephyrhills City Council has unanimously approved a plan to give 160 city employees a raise.
At its June 13 meeting, the council approved a compa-ratio, or “parity hybrid,” salary plan.
City employees with the most tenure will see the largest salary increases, which range from 4 percent to 14 percent.
The move will essentially place Zephyrhills employees in a more competitive pay grade compared to other regional municipalities.
For example, a 20-year employee will see a 30 percent jump in salary placement, while a 10-year employee will see a 20 percent bump. Employees with five years of experience will see a 10 percent pay grade placement jump.
The approved salary plan will cost the city approximately $1.5 million through September 2017. Under the plan, all but a few of the city’s employees will get a raise.
In determining the increases, the city consulted with Evergreen Solutions, who collected salary data from 18 different regional agencies.
City Councilman Charles Proctor was one of the most outspoken proponents of the salary increases, saying they are “long overdue.”
“I like the idea that we’re taking into account the longevity of employees,” Proctor said. “It’s not going to be easy to add another $1.5 million into the upcoming budget, but I do think our employees are well worth it.”
After September 2017, the wage increases will add roughly $1 million (including FICA taxes and benefit contributions) to the city’s subsequent annual budgets, and will come from four funding sources: airport, general, sanitation and utilities.
“It’s extremely difficult for us to come up with this kind of money — and that’s not just for this year, it’s from now on,” Proctor said. “Once we do it, it’s forever. In my opinion it’s not enough (of a raise), but it’s a good start.”
City Councilman Alan Knight said it was important to present a plan that would offer competitive pay compared to other Tampa Bay area municipalities.
“We do have a problem with turnover, and we’re in competition with people that are offering more money,” Knight said. “I think this is a good package.”
Knight added he feels “secure in the growth of Zephyrhills” to sustain the higher pay grades.
Over the past several months, City Manager Steven Spina and city department heads analyzed several salary proposals before settling on the “hybrid” plan, which affects the majority of the city’s employees.
“The pay grades we selected…were the best jump that we could afford at this time,” Spina said. “There are…more expensive plans that would benefit another group of employees, but we have to look at the viability of what we can afford and what we can continue to pay them down the road.”
Spina noted there’s approximately $3.1 million in the city’s budget contingency that can be used for funding the new pay hikes. Furthermore, Spina said the city is looking at other revenue sources to fund the increased salaries each year, adding that increases in the city’s property values could help ease the additional financial burden.
Though City Councilman Lance Smith ultimately voted in favor of the plan, he showed the most resistance in tacking on more money to the city’s budget: “The worst-case scenario is the economy falls off again and somebody gets laid off or several people get laid off because we’re locked in now (with the raises).”
Should Zephyrhills lack the needed funds to support the pay increases, city leaders pondered the idea of slightly raising millage rates in coming years.
“I have a feeling that we may have to look at the millage again to cover all of this,” Proctor said.
Brian Williams, the city’s finance director, agreed.
“I can’t promise that we won’t have to raise the millage in two years,” Williams said.
Published June 22, 2016
