Hundreds of City Hall employees received double-digit raises

[hanjin1]

Guess this is were the higher millage rate is going.


Despite discussions about belt-tightening and cost-cutting, more than 500 Jacksonville city employees received at least a 10 percent pay increase last year.

The bulk of those with the high increases are police officers and firefighters, whose pay scales for ranks and tenure are specifically laid out in union contracts.

For example, 26 employees from Jacksonville Fire and Rescue saw their pay increase more than 40 percent. Those employees reached a certain tenure plateau that bumps their pay and were promoted in the same year, fire union President Randy Wyse said.

On the Sheriff’s Office side, 99 employees received a 20 percent bump for staying with the agency six years, police union President Nelson Cuba said.

Both Wyse and Cuba said starting salaries were lowered during negotiations in the 1990s that lead to larger percentage increases when employees stay with the department and earn promotions.

The largest raise citywide was 87 percent for an employee who was an aide last year, but was hired into the accounting department after receiving a college degree, City Council Auditor Kirk Sherman said.

Of the more than 8,100 city employees, about 1,100 did not receive a raise at all.

The data was compiled by Sherman’s office at the request of Councilwoman E. Denise Lee as the council pushes for across-the-board pay cuts.

For more on this story, see jacksonville.com and Thursday’s Times-Union.

[Cliffs_Daughter]

I can personally vouch for some of those 1100 too   

[Deuce]

union contracts

That's the key here. The city was contractually bound to give those increases. Same at JEA although they were much much lower than 40%. The cost to not do so, could have been more in terms of legal fees. There's always the spectre of a strike too with it's attendant costs.

[jbroadglide]

Unlike the news station comment boards I hope the comments left here about this news? item are intelligent and not a bunch of foaming at the mouth. After 3 years without any sort of pay increase at all, I recieved recently a whopping 1.75% increase. That will soon be wiped out and them some by the proposed 3% cut in pay for city workers. So tired of hearing the "I don't even have a job, and you complain about a 2% raise." Sorry about your tough luck, but ask yourself..do companies lay off their most productive, most talented workers or do they lay off the dead wood? Not in all cases but I'll bet in a vast majority its the dead wood. So if you got laid off look in the mirror. I know I'm setting myself up to get flamed pretty bad but thats okay.
But I still believe that the folks who visit this website are far more intelligent then the average joe who frequent news sites.

[Cliffs_Daughter]

^^
Well said.

And I'm with you - you're in the ACSFME(?) union too eh? What job class/dept are you in? IM me if you want. 

[Sportmotor]

I dont mind cops, emts, and firefighters getting a raise.

Not a fan of unions tho

[Cliffs_Daughter]

I dont mind cops, emts, and firefighters getting a raise.

Not a fan of unions tho

Honestly, working in this one, I'm not a fan either!

[buckethead]

Any day above ground is a good day.

Contractual raises should be paid, unless improprieties are evident, I see no need to get in an uproar.

[Sportmotor]

*RAWRS at buckethead* lol

[mtraininjax]

Raises are one thing, but the step raises are a joke. Some of the increases in salary are far more than most businesses offer in 3-5% bumps in raises. Getting a degree for your job related activities, hey, congrats, does that deserve a 25% pay raise? I don't think so. I'm all for paying a living wage, but not the rediculous step raises at the expense of my taxes. The police and fire contract systems should be reviewed.

[NotNow]

The only step raise that is more than two to three percent in Police & Fire is the six year step.  That was negotiated by the city more than a decade ago when they reduced the starting pay in order to save money.  The six year mark was where they "caught up"the new lower pay scale with the normal scale.  A degree is required for hire at JSO and no extra pay is involved.  The city employee mentioned in the story was an "aide" (close to minimum wage) who got a degree and was hired into a different classification and job.  Compare it to an office helper at a law firm who gets a J.D. and is hired by the firm. 

Police & Fire are jobs that many, if not most, don't promote.  Step raises provide a small salary progression as the employee grows in experience.  The "salary range" from a rookie to a twenty year employee is really pretty small.