Council delays decision on town employee salaries, including police & fire raises
MOORESVILLE — As 2023 approaches, the Mooreville Town Council must decide if all town employees are to receive equal raises or if the police and fire departments should receive the highest salary increases next year.
Mooresville Town Council President Tom Warthen submitted his salary recommendations for next year, making adjustments to the proposed 2023 budget in the process. He changed the numbers that were advertised during the town's budget public hearing, declining the requests of the police and fire department heads.
The issue was discussed during the Tuesday, Nov. 1 council meeting as members shared their opinions on the town's salary ordinance, which will determine how much each employee will be compensated in 2023. The council decided to table making any decisions on the 2023 salary ordinance after much deliberation.
Police department requests
Warthen went against the wishes of Police Chief Kerry Buckner and Fire Chief Matt Dalton by reducing salary requests for police officers and firemen in each department.
The Mooresville Metropolitan Police Department had originally requested a $4,000 raise for its patrolmen in a bid to make the town's wages more competitive with neighboring police departments. Warthen reduced that request by $1,500, bringing the amount to $2,500 instead. The proposed cuts brought the requested salary total for 12 patrol positions from $685,287 down to $667,287.
"I think the comment has been made that this is taking money away from people. It is not. It was never given to them. It was a wishlist," Warthen said. "I know public safety is important. Two years ago, four members of this council decided public safety was important enough to make a major change and give a larger raise to our police and we did that. This time here, I still think that every one of our employees is important to the function of this town."
Buckner has previously indicated his desire to improve the department's retention rate by offering more competitive packages, including higher pay.
Fire department requests
The fire department also saw its salary-increase requests cut from $3,100 to $2,500. Warthen opted to offer $2,500 raises to all town employees instead of approving the requested police and fire salary proposals to even out raises across all departments.
"If we go back to what we were supposed to do. We had a workshop and I asked for comments from each one of the council members. Nothing was said at that point in time. Then we had our public hearing and nothing was said at that point in time," Warthen said. "I went back through and that is when I found that (discrepancy). I made my recommendations to the clerks-treasurers office on here is where we can and can't move that."
Warthen said that no money was built into the advertised budget to accommodate the raises both departments requested.
Councilman Jeff Cook responded to Warthen, explaining that the idea behind the fire department's raise involved having the council pay a percentage of the department's public employee retirement fund.
Dalton, who was a member of the audience, confirmed this.
Warthen explained that the town's local optional income tax for public safety would have to be used to provide the necessary funds for that. This could be problematic, according to the council president.
"We pay that out of LOIT, there was nothing in their budget added to that for that. We would be overspending the LOIT if we went above the 2%. That is what was left in the local optional income tax for public safety," Warthen said. "We did not budget any type of raise. He (Fire Chief Dalton) did come and talk to us about either a flat raise of $2,500 as his plan B or paying a portion of the employee contribution to the 1977 police and fire fund. If we took the estimated revenue, took out our obligated expenses, figured in the 4,000 raise and left 2% funding in there to offset employee contribution to the PERF."
Councilman Greg Swinney said he was torn by the decision.
"I like the $2,500 across the board because it gives everybody the same thing. My thoughts come back to the general public," Swinney said. "Most of them won't see anything probably for the next two to three years in the climate we are in. At least we would be taking care of everybody equally."
Background
Councilman Shane Williams expressed his concerns with the timing of the budgetary changes.
Williams said these changes were done after a public hearing for the budget was held on Oct. 4. No objections were made by the council or public during the hearing. He went on to explain that council members were not notified of the developments until around 5 p.m. the night before the 2023 budget was adopted on Oct. 18.
"I think there is a dilemma inherent in this. My view is from a public hearing standpoint. The budget that was presented in the workshop and subsequently the public hearing was the department head requests," Williams said. "We saw their requests. They were different amounts. In the case of the fire chief, it was a different method toward a raise. It was a percentage of their PERF. I didn't ask questions other than if the total budget salaries were the same in either scenario."
Although the 2023 budget was already approved in a 4-1 vote last month, it does not apply to the salaries of town employees. The council must still approve its salary ordinance before any decisions on salaries are finalized.
Department heads presented their requests before the council during a budget workshop that was also held at the government center on Sept. 6.
"At both the public hearing and the workshop, none of the department heads complained about the other's proposals. No one in the public came and complained about the proposals that were available," Williams said. "I think it is disingenuous to say that we weren't aware there were discrepancies in the salaries because that is what was presented to us and to the public. I don't care for changing things after the point at which the public can comment. I fundamentally have a problem with that."
Williams indicated that he is in favor of approving the proposed salary increase requests for the town's police and fire departments and exploring the option of supplying a one-time bonus worth $1,500 to other department employees to offset the differences in compensation.
"In one scenario, the police and fire get cut to make it so that the rest of the employees get the same amount. If we go with that route, we are going to tick off employees and make them feel less important. That is where we're at," Williams said. "I understand both sides, I really do. I tend to lean toward what we advertised to the public and what they had a potential to comment on."
Williams also suggested that the town could use a portion of its American Rescue Plan Act funds to help finance raises for employees.
"When we got covid relief funds, most communities around us showed they valued their employees. This council didn't do so. They took some of that money and gave a bonus to employees," Williams said. "I think that there is a way to go with the first alternative where department heads submitted it and we go with what they say. Maybe in the new year, we look at how we budget raises on a percentage base or something that is fair across the board and equitable based on salary studies."
Councilman Dustin Stanley agreed that the town should look into offering percentage-based raises while discussing his thoughts on the matter.
"Some employees did reach out. They expressed that obviously everybody wants more money. I can understand that," Stanley said. "There are times when food is pretty pricey. Honestly, I had a decision until today. Speaking with some of our employees may have changed that decision."
Mooresville received a second ARPA payment of $1.1 million last month, bringing the town's total allocated amount to around $2.21 million.
Mooresville's 2023 budget, including the salary requests, can be viewed online at Indiana Gateway.
This article originally appeared on The Reporter Times: Council delays decision on town employee salaries, including police & fire raises
