Two members of the Little Rock Board of Directors disagreed with City Manager Bruce Moore's recommendation not to give any additional bonus or a raise to city employees this year, but they made no motion to that effect at Tuesday night's board meeting.
City Directors Kathy Webb and B.J. Wyrick said they'd like to see the city use state turnback funds to give 2 percent across-the-board raises to all city employees that cover the last four months of the year.
Employees received bonuses in January in lieu of a raise after Moore told the board during the budget planning process last year that there wasn't enough money for permanent raises.
"At the end of that meeting [last year] we promised the employees of the city that we would do something in June and it's [now past] July and here we are telling them again that there's no money," Wyrick said Tuesday night.
Richard Morehead, president of the local chapter of the International Association of Fire Fighters, said the firefighter union feels like Moore's proposal puts other priorities above the employees. He said his group has calculated that a 2 percent raise that covers the second half of the year and isn't retroactive would cost the city $700,000.
In response, Moore said his staff doesn't think that number is accurate. He also said he had to think of the long-term impact a permanent raise would have on the budget and the fact that whatever raise is negotiated for 2016 would be applied to higher salaries if a raise is given in the second half of this year.
"When I have to look at this entire organization and where we are," I can't recommend raises, Moore told the board.
He sent a memo informing them of his recommendation Friday, writing that the decision was "not an easy one." While total revenue is $1.15 million ahead of forecast because of increased sales-tax revenue and state pension turnback funds, other areas are below budget, Moore wrote.
A 1 percent raise would permanently add $1.25 million to the city's $194.8 million budget.
Collectively, revenue from the zoo, golf and park funds are projected to be $700,000 below budget after heavy rains the first half of this year. There have been other unexpected expenditures, including the purchase of $250,000 worth of police riot gear the board approved earlier this year.
When the board voted to give January bonuses, it instructed Moore to give an update on revenue midyear to see whether additional bonuses or raises were possible. The first-of-the-year bonuses equaled a one-time cost of almost $1.5 million.
John Gilchrist, vice president of the Little Rock Fraternal Order of Police, addressed the board Tuesday, pleading for them to go against Moore's recommendation.
"Our caseloads are high and we suffer from the lack of manpower. Much of this is attributed to the fact of the insurance and no pay raises. People are leaving to take jobs to sell cars. They are going to other states to become police officers -- Texas, Louisiana, Florida," Gilchrist said.
City employees have had consistent pay increases in previous years.
While both Wyrick and Webb stated they wanted to find a way to give employee raises this year, they said after the meeting that they weren't sure there was enough support on the board to do so.
City Director Joan Adcock pointed out during the meeting that the tiered bonuses given based on employees' salaries this year resulted in more money for the lower-paid employees than a 1 percent raise would have been.
City Director Ken Richardson said he supports raises for all city employees, but that given the city's finances he thinks it's "in our best interest to rely on [Moore's] recommendation" at this time.
City Director and Vice Mayor Lance Hines promised Morehead and Gilchrist that raises would be at the top of his priority list when the 2016 budget planning process starts in September.
"I know this year is still up in the air based on what our city manager has said, but I know you'll see a commitment from me on the board that that be a priority in our upcoming budget process," Hines said.
Metro on 08/05/2015