City leaders have given initial approval to a salary ordinance establishing pay ranges for city workers next year.
Columbus City Council on Tuesday unanimously passed the first reading of the salary ordinance, which establishes minimum, midpoint and maximum pay levels.
The ordinance was developed based on a salary compensation study that was performed by a McCordsville-based firm, Total Reward Solutions, which evaluated the salaries of city government employees, said Jamie Brinegar, city finance director.
The consultant looked at Columbus employees’ pay employee pay in the parks and recreation department, city utilities and public safety, and compared them to peer positions at similar-sized Indiana municipalities such as Anderson, Greenwood, Kokomo and Noblesville, while salary ordinances were also obtained from the cities of Bloomington, Jeffersonville, Lafayette and Terre Haute.
The city has had minimum and maximum salaries for each position, but the council has embraced the consultant’s recommendation to establish three pay steps — adding a midpoint level.
Arlette Cooper-Tinsley, human resources director for the city, previously told the council that Columbus has struggled with recruitment and retention since she was hired in 1995.
The city will look to get employees a third to the midpoint or give them 3 percent raises, whichever is higher, depending on their overall performance evaluation, said Mary Ferdon, executive director of administration and community development.
For more on this story, see Thursday’s Republic.
