BUCYRUS―Wage increases for certain city employees and elected officials were the main topic of discussion during the Bucyrus City Council Joint Committee meeting Thursday evening.
Mayor Jeff Reser asked that the pay range for Safety Service Director Jeff Wagner be raised.
“He manages over 100 employees, helps with the budget and wears many hats, he is even in charge of the parks while many cities have a park director instead,” Reser said.
Reser said he researched the Ohio Municipal League Survey to compare the rates of pay for officials in Bucyrus to other communities similar in size to Bucyrus. He said that the parks director position was included in his research as he would like to add a director in the future.
In his research of pay for the SSD position, Reser said Galion pays the lowest wage of $53,000 per year while Brecksville was the highest at $109,000.
“Our SSD position tops out at $65,000 and Jeff is at the top of the pay range now,” Reser said.
He said the average pay for the SSD position is $77,500 and would like to see Wagner’s pay raised to that amount.
Finance committee member Dan Wirebaugh said that the city refused to raise the minimum wage of city employees up to $15 per hour a few years ago when he proposed it.
“You weren’t willing to raise the minimum wage for the city which could have inspired local, private companies to raise their minimum wages,” Wirebaugh said.
Reser said most city employees make more than $15 per hour already.
The finance committee decided to propose an increase to the SSD pay rate to $71,000 retroactive back to Jan. 1 of this year. The legislation will be voted on by the entire council at its next meeting.
Reser also found that the average pay for a city auditor is $51,000 yet the Bucyrus city auditor is at $48,981.13.
Council member Andy Schoch proposed an increase in the auditor’s pay to $54,000 during the next four years, beginning in January 2020. The committee approved legislation to reflect the pay increase.
Law Director Rob Ratliff said his position is part-time, even though the pay is the same as the auditor’s wages.
“I propose that there not be any increase to the pay rate for law director,” Ratliff said.
Schoch said that there was a large increase in the mayor’s wages in 2016 due to a previous freeze on city wages.
“We don’t want to play catch up later,” Schoch said.
A one-percent increase to all the remaining positions, which include council members who currently are paid $6,679.29 per year, the law director position and mayor.
The proposal was approved by the finance committee to have legislation created and voted on at the next council meeting.
Council President Sis Love said the increases are for the position, not the person currently in the position.
“These raises will not take effect until after the next election,” Love said.
The finance committee also approved legislation for a street levy renewal to be placed on the ballot in May.
The economic development committee approved several subcommittee appointments while the platting committee approved a zoning change for veterinary offices.
The next council meeting is Jan. 15 at 7 p.m.