Many city employees will get a raise next fiscal year, but how much they’ll get could depend on where they work and how long they’ve been on the job.
The Tucson City Council backed a compromise on Tuesday designed to appease several employee union demands for raises but is a departure from the across-the-board 2.5 percent pay raise for all employees that City Manager Mike Ortega proposed several months ago.
The $6 million proposal is only a tentative agreement and will require formal council approval .
Under the revised proposal, employees covered by the American Federation of State, County, Municipal Employees — mostly blue-collar workers — have asked for a set dollar amount for each employee rather than 2.5 percent raise.
A specific figure was not offered Tuesday.
The fixed-dollar amount would be a higher percentage for the lowest-paid employees, union officials told the city manager.
The firefighters union has asked for discretion to take its allocation and redistribute it depending on rank, experience and years with the city.
The Tucson Police Officers Association has asked for more time to consider how to use the proposed amount set aside for the 2.5 percent raise, as well as an additional set amount of money that would be used in the next fiscal year for retention and recruitment.
On the latter, Ortega said he would be receptive to a proposal from the police union on how to use the money, but only under the condition that Police Chief Chris Magnus supports it.
Magnus has stated the city is in the midst of a staffing crisis, saying officers are leaving the department faster than the city can hire and train replacements — which can take up to a year per officer.
The department has about 800 sworn officers, about a 100 less than several years ago.
The chief has asked for a 5 percent pay increase — in addition to the proposed citywide pay increase — for about 400 officers in an attempt to stem the tide of officers leaving for better pay elsewhere.
Mayor Jonathan Rothschild said the staffing problem at the police department runs deep and wouldn’t be solved in a single fiscal cycle. “We don’t solve this in a one-year budget,” Rothschild said.
Other city employees not represented by these unions would receive the 2.5 percent raise, provided they have worked for the city for at least 1½ years.
