Hope Mills Board of Commissioners approves pay study for town employees. Here's why.
The Hope Mills Board of Commissioners unanimously approved an $18,000 pay study on Monday night, the first of such studies in recent memory.
The study stems from requests by Commissioners Jerry Legge and Grilley Mitchell at the board’s Oct. 2 meeting, when Legge asked that Interim Town Manager Chancer McLaughlin investigate the pay scale of Hope Mills Police Department employees and Mitchell asked for an investigation of all town salaries.
Mitchell said Tuesday that he could not recall the last time Hope Mills did a pay study.
“A pay study is required almost at any level, now in this day and time, to make sure that you’re competitive,” Mitchell said.
Mayor Jackie Warner said Tuesday that the town has done at least two pay studies since she took office in 2011, though she could not recall specifically when.
Warner said the study is to compare the town's competitiveness to Fayetteville and Cumberland County.
"We realized that the neighboring cities and county have boosted their pay for police," she said. "With our growth, we know we need to hire more, but we know that our salaries aren't attractive."
She said she's concerned the issue extends beyond the police department and that the town as a whole may not be offering competitive salaries. The idea of a pay study, she said, has been a topic of discussion for months, likely starting with the board's annual budget retreat in January.
Commissioner Mitchell said the town did not yet have an estimate for when the study would be completed and had yet to determine who would conduct it.
“This is the initial process,” he said. “We’re in the early planning stage of this.”
According to Monday's meeting agenda, the cost of the study will come from the town’s general fund, which can be used for expenses related to governmental duties, public safety, transportation, environmental protection, culture, recreation and debt, the town’s 2023 budget states.
According to the budget, Hope Mills started the new fiscal year on July 1 with $273,069 available for new expenses in its general fund.
Database of Hope Mills employees' pay: Here's how much Hope Mills pays town employees
An analysis of town employee salaries published by the Observer earlier this month showed that the average Hope Mills employee makes $49,558. Salaries for employees of the Police Department ranged from $39,110 to $99,079, with the town’s 26 police officers earning between $40,915 and $50,328, the data showed.
Warner said the board hopes to use the results of the study in its budget process, which begins in January.
"It gets us prepared as we have to start looking at the budget and how we propose to increase taxes if necessary," she said. "We prepare for things. We plan for things."
McLaughlin, Mayor Pro Tem Kenjuana McCray and Commissioners Legge, Joanne Scarola and Bryan Marley could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Got a tip for a follow-up on this story? Government watchdog reporter Lexi Solomon can be reached at ABSolomon@gannett.com or 910-481-8526.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Hope Mills Board of Commissioners approves pay study for town employees
