Slidell city employees: The City Council says it feels your pain, but raises aren't likely in the offing anytime soon. The council discussed the pros and cons of the city's salary "matrix'' with the personnel director Rene' Johnson, but if there was any consensus among those council members joining the chat it was that while they'd love to see increased...
Slidell city employees: The City Council says it feels your pain, but raises aren't likely in the offing anytime soon. The council discussed the pros and cons of the city's salary "matrix'' with the personnel director Rene' Johnson, but if there was any consensus among those council members joining the chat it was that while they'd love to see increased employee salaries, the city's tight budget won't allow it at this time.
Council members said they hope city workers understand.
"We just don't have the money,'' Councilman Buddy Lloyd said during the council's meeting Tuesday night.
Afterward, Lloyd said the economy hasn't been good for some years now and doesn't show a lot of promise. He said workers in the private sector have also had to deal with layoffs, furloughs and not having step increases in their pay.
Johnson said the current salary "matrix,'' which dates to 1999 is based on the philosophy of paying Slidell workers about 5 percent "above market.'' The matrix spells out the salary schedule for employees
Now, she said, the city's workers make salaries some 30 percent "below the market.'' Johnson said it is important to try and raise the salaries of employees, who haven't had step increases in a number of years.
The city's $41.5 million budget, which takes effect July 1, was hammered out during several tense meetings as the city's elected officials grappled with declining revenues.
Lloyd told Johnson he thinks the 5-percent mark "seems a bit ambitious.''
But Johnson said in 1999 that wasn't so unrealistic. Back then, she said, the city's finances were in much better shape.
Councilman Sam Caruso, a former longtime mayor of the city, said that during his tenure as mayor the city's revenue stream was healthy enough to give ample raises, both merit raises and cost-of-living increases.
"It was a different world,'' Caruso said, adding that he thinks city employees understand how tight the finances are and how challenging the economy now is.