From The Tribune staff reports
CLAY — The city of Clay is experiencing challenges when it comes to hiring for city jobs.
During a city council meeting on Tuesday, May 11, 2021, the council passed a motion to amend the 2020-2021 city budget to add $100,000 into the city’s payroll budget.
City Manager Ronnie Dixon said the city has to hire one person in Public Works, two for the library, and five for the splash pad this summer. Dixon said it has been challenging to find workers.
“With the fast food service industry, in particular, offering signing bonuses and $12-15/hour, we’re having a hard time recruiting people for those jobs,” Dixon said. “If I offer that much per hour to new, part-time, temporary help in those departments, it’s going to put some of our regular part-time (employees) that have been here for years, in some cases, making less than what the new hire will. So, in order to catch us up to where we are nationally with employees, we need to raise those salaries to a competitive level.”
With only five months remaining in this budget year, Dixon said that the amount added will also contribute to the next budget year. The motion passed unanimously.