Centerville workers get pay increases

City Council approves 2.75 percent raises for all city employees.

Centerville City Council has approved 2.75-percent pay increases for all full-time city employees.

City Council CENTERVILLE — has approved 2.75-percent pay increases for all city employees.

According to the city’s human resources department, the city employs about 100 regular fulltime employees, as well as approx- imately 100 regular part-time and seasonal employees. The raises are for full-time workers.

In August, the city and the first union for the Centerville Police Department reached a collective bargaining agreement.

The three-year deal between the city and the Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association addressed grievance procedures, discipline, vacation, holidays, leave, wages, overtime, separation and insurance, according to Maureen Russell-Hodgson, com- munity resources coordinator for the city.

Jennifer Brumby, human resource manager for the city, explained that the agreement includes salary increases of 2.75 percent in 2018, 2.75 percent in 2019 and 2.5 percent in 2020.

“So, the police officers aren’t going to be governed by the pay ordinance anymore because they have a union, and through union negotiations we negotiated 2.75 increase for them,” she said. “Obviously, the city manager and city council wanted to treat the city employees fairly and the same, so that was the reason for that 2.75 increase all full-time employees will get.”

Economic growth will help pay for the raises, estimated to cost about $225,000, according to Brumby. She said the city has added the position of community development director that will be filled internally, and the person filling that position will have their job eliminated, so that will defray the cost of the raises.

“We did add a records clerk position for the police department, and we did just post the position of events coordinator,” Brumby said. “We did about 265 W2s last year, and there was obviously some turnover with seasonal folks.”

The city’s 2.75 percent raises will not extend to part-time employees, Brumby said, because the amount paid to hourly workers is better than the federal and

state minimums.

Part-time workers in Centerville are paid a wage of $8.65, while the state minimum wage is $8.30 and the federal amount stands at $7.25.

“Last year, the city adjusted those hourly rates upward. We still feel, based on what the federal minimum wage is and what the state minimum wage is going to be, that we are competitive,” Brumby said.

City Manager Wayne Davis is the city’s highest-paid employee after replacing long-time city manager Greg Horn, who retired in July 2017.

Davis has a three-year contract with the city ending July 21, 2020, and he received $169,998 of total compensation for his first year of employment.

Horn received $178,252 in total compensation from the city in 2016, according to data from the Dayton Daily News I-Team payroll project.

In 2017, there were 11 people employed by the city who made more than $100,000 per year.