By Austin Huguelet
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
ST. LOUIS — Mayor Cara Spencer on Tuesday announced millions of dollars in raises for city workers, an effort to compete with higher-paying jobs and fill hundreds of vacant positions.
About $5.5 million will go toward raising starting salaries for hundreds of city workers who now earn below the market rate, the city said. Another $4.5 million will adjust pay for longer-tenured employees. Separately funded raises at the airport and in the water division will add another $3 million.
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The announcement is the city’s latest attempt to recruit and retain employees who can often make more money elsewhere. More than a fifth of city jobs have gone unfilled in recent years, hobbling basic services from trash pickup and tree trimming to car towing and pothole repairs. The city approved more than $30 million in raises over the past couple of years under former Mayor Tishaura O. Jones.
Spencer, who campaigned on getting “back to basics” and fixing city services, cast this round as another step toward delivering.
“This allows us to hire the best people,” she said, “and when you hire the best people, you can deliver the best results to residents.”
Some of the biggest increases will go to employees at the bottom of the pay scale, a shift from earlier rounds of across-the-board raises. Newer jail guards, trash truck drivers and tree trimmers will see raises worth thousands of dollars, and a handful of building inspectors will get about $7,000 more a year, said Ben Jonsson , the mayor’s operations chief.
Police officers and firefighters are in line for 4% across-the-board raises, though raises for police will need approval from their state-run board. Other city employees are set for 2% bumps subject to labor negotiations.
The raises coincide with a new salary study by Florida-based consultant Evergreen Solutions, which interviewed city employees and reviewed salary data from other local governments in the region and across the Midwest.
The consultants found that city workers at all levels believe the city doesn’t pay enough. Starting salaries are too low, they said, and don’t grow enough over time.
Salary data from other governments — including St. Louis County and St. Charles County, plus cities like Memphis, Milwaukee, Des Moines and Cincinnati — backed up those complaints.
A comparison of pay across 170 job titles found St. Louis’ starting salaries averaging about 30% below the market, though the gap shrank to roughly 8% at the top of the pay scale. Some of the most underpaid positions are core city jobs — utility workers, water service managers, truck drivers and building plan examiners.
Consultants said the city makes up for some of that with competitive benefits, including a generous pension package.
Still, they recommended bringing salaries to within 5% of the market in the first year, then closing the remaining gap over the following two to three years.
Jonsson said it will help with hiring, the city’s most immediate personnel challenge.
“It’s not going to fix everything,” he said. “But it’s going to take a good swing at the problem.”
He said the administration plans to pass a pay bill through the Board of Aldermen by January, with raises showing up in workers’ paychecks in February.
Alderman Rasheen Aldridge, who chairs the board’s budget committee, said he supports the changes. He said the city should also be mindful of positions that may never be filled. Cutting those, he said, could free up money to keep salaries competitive and create new positions needed in the future.
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