Isle of Palms city employees, who received a 7.5% salary increase earlier this year, have been granted another pay raise.
At their Nov. 15 meeting, members of the IOP City Council voted 6-2 to help city employees deal with inflation by giving them a $5,000 lump sum payment and a 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment.
More financial assistance is on the way: In January, city workers are expected to receive an average of 2.5% in merit pay increases. Voting for the lump sum payment and 2.5% COLA were Council Members Jan Anderson, Blair Hahn, Katie Miars, Kevin Popson and Jimmy Ward, along with Mayor Phillip Pounds. Scott Pierce and John Bogosian voted no. Rusty Streetman, who joined the meeting online earlier, was not available to vote on the proposed pay increase. Bogosian said he wants a compensation plan “that attracts the best and the brightest,” but he added that the prudent option would be a one-time adjustment and “look at it again in six months, to see what inflation looks like then.” He said a 12% increase in pay for city employees would be “irresponsible.” Pierce said he favored a larger lump sum increase as well. Pounds, however, insisted on a combination of a one-time payment and a COLA, pointing out that he’s “tired of losing people over a couple of thousand dollars.” “I feel strongly we need to do something for our staff,” Pounds said. “The staff is our lifeblood that keeps us going,” Popson added. According to figures provided by City Administrator Desiree Fragoso, the $5,000 lump sum payment will cost the city $584,150 in salaries and benefits, an average increase of 9%. The 2.5% COLA will cost IOP $87,516 in the final six months of fiscal year 2023 and $177,220 in fiscal year 2024. Over the next fourand-a-half years, the city will pay its employees an additional $823,423 as a result of the COLA. In other action on Nov. 15, the Council voted unanimously to continue holding one workshop per month and reduce the number of standing committees to three, which won’t necessarily meet every month. The committee system was temporarily shelved during the final six months of 2022, but some committees met to deal with specific tasks.
The standing committees will be Administration, Public Safety and Public Facilities and Services. Pounds said Public Facilities and Services would be a combination of what once were the Real Property, Recreation and Public Works Committees. “I would like to see committees meet when necessary,” Ward commented. “I would like to see more focus on committees. That’s where the work gets done.”
The Council directed the city staff to prepare an ordinance establishing the new system for the Council’s Dec. 6 meeting.
