Questions Linger on Proposed Pay Increase

In Medford City, talks of a possible proposed pay increase of at least 6 percent for several employees who are currently at management level has caused a lot of questions to circulate within the Medford City Council earlier on in the week. This possible change would have an effect on several mangers, including the city manager and the supervisory managers, along with the senior support staff. At least 104 employees would end up seeing a pay increase of around 1 percent. Aside from these employees, around 42 other employees would have the opportunity to earn a pay increase of about 5 percent, which is part of a plan to set compensation for employees based on their current level of education. Doug Detling, the human resources director for the city, made it clear that this was the plan. He said that some employees had already been receiving more pay because of the current degrees they hold but says that some other employees were not receiving such pay.

Detling says that certain employees, including him, could end up receiving a pay increase of around 6 percent while others may receive a 5 percent raise if they have a master’s degree in just about any specific field. He said that individuals holding lower-level management positions would need to at least have a bachelor’s degree in order to receive the pay increase. Earlier on in the week, a councilman, Chris Corcoran, asked that they city be given more time to address the issue and figure out what kind of impact it would have on the city in a financial way. Corcoran said, “The complexity of the information is pretty hard to grab on the fly.” He also said, “There is a significant cost to implement this. What’s the ongoing increase in costs going to be?” Corcoran believes that all management-level staff members should receive fair compensation. He continued by saying, “There is a very small percentage of the community that makes the kind of salaries our managers do.” He also said, “We have to be very cognizant about what’s taking place in the private sector.”

In the meantime, a different councilman, Dick Gordon, said he did not quite understand the entire compensation proposal and feels that there are a lot of questions that have been going unanswered. Gordon said, “It’s a complicated matter.” He is, however, in support of the 1 percent increase in pay. He continued by saying, “As far as pay, these 104 folks have not had a pay increase during the past two Julys.”