Columbus City Council has given initial approval to a 1.5 percent across-the-board raise for city employees and elected officials in 2017.
The vote was 5-1, with councilman Frank Miller voting no. Councilwoman Laurie Booher did not attend Tuesday night’s meeting.
Jamie Brinegar, the city’s director of finance, explained the city has given a cost-of-living adjustment to city employees in five of the past six years. The proposed 1.5 percent increase exceeds the national consumer price index estimates of 1 percent. The raises will not be tied to performance.
Before the vote, Miller told the council it was difficult to look at a cost-of-living increase for city employees and the possibility of taxpayers paying more when community residents on fixed incomes were not getting an increase.
For more on this story, see Thursday’s Republic.
