Votes ahead: Pay increases for city council, county sheriff’s deputies, one-time bump for core city union
A dramatic hike of their own salaries by Bloomington city councilmembers—to about $45,000, which is more than double current pay—has been a highlight of local government news for the last several days.
But two other public compensation issues will also appear on meeting agendas this coming week.
One is a one-time $500 year-end bonus for city of Bloomington employees who belong to the AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees). The union includes workers in utilities, the street and fleet divisions of public works, parks and recreation, sanitation, and the animal shelter, among others.
The other upcoming public compensation issue, which will appear on Tuesday’s Monroe County council agenda, involves a proposed increase to salaries for sheriff’s deputies. It’s a proposed 2.9-percent increase to the current salary, plus a $12,000 flat amount increase.
The impetus behind the proposal to increase the salaries for county sheriff’s deputies is an effort to make pay more competitive with the Bloomington police department (BPD). BPD officers are looking at a big raise from 2024 to 2025. The BPD increase works out to a little more than a 20-percent increase in 2025 compared to 2024.
The new BPD deal is for two years. Under the old contract, an Officer 1st Class was slated to get just a 2.9 percent increase between 2024 and 2025—from $68,184 to $70,161.
But under the terms of the revised agreement, in 2025 an Officer 1st Class will receive $82,161, which is a 20.5-percent increase over the salary for 2024. In 2026, an Officer 1st Class will receive another 3-percent above the 2025 amount, to bring the salary to $84,626.
The proposal for sheriff’s deputies would boost their pay from $75,816 to $90,014. The proposal would mean a total additional expenditure by the county of between $500,000 and $750,000 depending on the details.
To increase city police pay, Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson’s administration re-opened the union contract, which was a four-year deal, which had been ratified for 2023 through 2026.
The city’s AFSCME union had also ratified a four-year deal from 2023 through 2026, but that contract is not getting reopened. The $500 bonus does not reflect any change to basic salary.
In a memo from the city’s HR director Sharr Pechac, the reason for the one-time $500 bonus is described like this: “The City wishes to show its appreciation for all of the City’s AFSCME personnel by providing a discretionary, one-time bonus at the end of year 2024.”
According to Pechac’s memo, the total fiscal impact of the $500 year-end bonus will be $96,000.
The AFSCME one-time bonus will be up for a vote by the city council at its 6:30 p.m. Wednesday (Dec. 11) meeting, the same night as the pay increases for city councilmembers, the clerk and the mayor.
To discuss the salary ordinance for elected officials before the Wednesday vote, the council has also scheduled a special meeting for Tuesday (Dec. 10) at 7:30 p.m. At that meeting, a revision will likely be put forward, which would reduce the amount of the initially proposed increase.
The question of compensation for Monroe County deputies will appear on the 5:30 p.m. Tuesday (Dec. 10) agenda for the Monroe County council.
