Marietta City Council delays action on raises
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MARIETTA -- Marietta City Council's Employee Relations Committee met Tuesday evening to discuss wages for this current fiscal year, including pay for non-union employees, council employees and the treasurer.
Previously, a piece of legislation was proposed where council would receive a $300 raise per member, including the president.
This proposed raise is based on a report from an auditor wherein raises for the council were to meet the minimum requirement set by the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System. OPERS is a pension fund that provides retirement benefits for state and public employees in Ohio and offers disability and survivor benefits.
Wages were a divisive topic amongst council members. Councilwoman Erin O'Neill, chairwoman of the Employee Relations Committee, advocated solidifying the previously tabled legislation for a raise for those serving on the council. O'Neill said having the raise approved could be useful for those who would be interested in getting involved with council in the future.
"Well, I also want to encourage ... people who work full-time jobs, who may be teachers or whatever, who want to get involved in this process, but they can't if there's no financial incentive for you to put in all the time that we put in," she said.
Councilman Jon Grimm proposed waiting until the end of the first quarter to review financial data before deciding on wage increases for any city employees. He emphasized the importance of gathering data on the city's cash flow and budget trends to make an informed decision.
"I just think it is too early for us to think about this. I think we need, at minimum, the first quarter of numbers to evaluate," Grimm said. "If we get into August, September, October, and we're talking about, 'Oh no, we haven't received the money that we thought we were going to receive, we don't have enough money to,' you know, then, then the conversation changes a whole lot."
Two other proposals for raises were also discussed, one for non-union employees and one for the position of treasurer. Those proposals were met with similar reticence from the council, with Grimm again stating that he would prefer to wait to see what the financial state of the city would be after the first quarter.
Ultimately, council agreed to delay decisions on both non-union employee raises and council member raises until more financial data could be reviewed, particularly after the first quarter.
Gwen Sour can be reached at gsour@newsandsentinel.com