Atascadero city council approves pay raises
Atascadero City Council voted unanimously to raise city employee salaries.
City manager said ‘Salaries are consistently below average’
– During their Tuesday night council meeting the Atascadero City Council unanimously voted to raise the pay of most city employees an additional half percent and fire department salaries are increasing by 2.5-percent for the current fiscal year and a retroactive 2-percent for the 2015 fiscal year. Negotiations between the city and the Atascadero Professional Firefighters Local 3600 reached in impasse in Nov. 2015 that was resolved in Nov. 2016.
City Manager Rachelle RIckard said that an informal salary survey showed that salaries for City of Atascadero employees are consistently below the average when compared to other cities in San Luis Obispo County. Rickard said that for the city to provide strong services it is important to retain current employees as well as attract new employees.
In a staff report to the council from the City Manager’s Office, the city had budgeted to use over $650,000 of the general fund for FY 2015/2016, however the general fund revenue exceeded the expenses by $805,000. In the report, staff recommends that some of the “higher than expected revenues” be applied to “bringing employee salaries closer to market levels.”
City employees represented by the Atascadero Police Officers Association, Service Employees International Union local 620, Mid-Management/Professional Employees Association and Non-Represnted Professional and Management Workers and Confidential Employees are receiving .5 percent (half-percent) raise in addition to the two percent received in July 2016.
Employees represented by the Atascadero Professional Firefighters Local 3600 receive a 2-percent raise to be paid retroactively due to negotiation impasse in Nov. 2015 that was resolved in Nov. 2016, and 2.5-percent effective as of July 2016.
The total fiscal impact of these actions is $212,950 and includes $49,700 one-time expense for fire department increases for fiscal year 2015/2016. The amount also includes $99,400 in budgeted funds for fire increases in 2016-2017.
