Raises addressed

DUNKIRK — It took some time, but raises have been approved for 2025.

Dunkirk City Council spent more than an hour and 15 minutes discussing the raises section-by-section Monday, generally settling on 5% increases for employees and 10% increases for supervisors.

Council also gave official approval to raising water and sewer rates by 3% each beginning Feb. 1.

There was extensive discussion regarding raises and other issues related to the salary ordinance, with council president Jesse Bivens noting that proposed increases from department heads ranged as high as 20%. He indicated that such a level was too high and advocated for 4% or 5%. (Employees received 7% raises last year.)

Council member and former mayor Dan Watson pointed out that superintendents currently make only about $1 per hour more than their employees.

He suggested 5% raises for employees and 10% raises for supervisors.

Brock Farmer, superintendent of the water department, responded that he believes his employees deserve more than a 5% raise.

Council members Christy Curts, Randy Murphy, Donna Revolt, Bivens and Watson ultimately voted unanimously for the following increases:

•5% for street, water and wastewater department employees, with 10% raises for the superintendents of those departments

•5% raises for the police department (Watson, who made the motion for the increase, noted that officers received significant raises — 25% and higher — in early 2022 when the city eliminated its dispatcher positions.)

•5% raises for clerk’s office employees, council members and the mayor

•A 9% increase for the clerk-treasurer (Previous clerk-treasurer Tina Elliott took only a 3% raise for 2024 instead of the approved 7% but then retired a couple of months later.)

•5% raises to the cap for the health and safety officer and zoning officer

•An increase to $175 per week for the animal control officer from the current $144

•5% raises for park employees (Council also agreed that one-third of the funding will come from the park budget. Currently, all of the funding comes from the street department’s budget.)

•Increases of 10% for the Dunkirk City Pool manager and lifeguards, and 5% raises for the assistant manager and all other pool employees.

•A 10% increase for city attorney Wes Schemenaur

No raises were given to the fire department. (Full-time firefighters had their salaries increased retroactive to July 1 in response to new federal rules that require overtime exempt employees to make at least $43,888 annually. (The previous threshold was $35,568.) The number will increase to $58,656 beginning Jan. 1.

Also as part of the salary ordinance, council: increased the clothing allowance for the police and fire departments by $500 to $1,500; removed overtime for firefighters; affirmed that police and their staff and firefighters should get comp time for working holidays while all other employees should be paid time-and-a-half for any hours worked; updated the ordinance to indicate that personal days begin getting paid out after 60 days and that health insurance coverage begins on the first day of employment.

The water and sewer rate increases, which council had already discussed at previous meetings, passed unanimously and with little discussion. They push the sewage rate to a minimum of $17.38 per month, up from $16.87 per month. The treatment rate is $4.35 per 100 cubic feet.

The minimum water rate will increase to $24.80 per month, up from $24.08. The rate per 100 cubic feet used is $18.56 for the first 133 cubic feet, $9.31 for the next 1,533 cubic feet and $7.78 for anything over 1,666 cubic feet.

Minimum rates increase based on the size of the water meter.

In other business, council:

•Learned from Robbins that his State of the City address will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 10, at West Jay Community Center.

•Agreed to a Miller Pipeline proposal of $23,118.21 to pay for damage the company caused to city water lines.

•Approved the following: a Downtown Revitalization Loan of $25,000 for Firehouse BBQ & Blues; the purchase of two sets of “turn-out gear” for the fire department from Donley Safety of Indianapolis for $6,490; buying signs for the fire station from Advanced Signs & Graphics of Muncie for $1,908.69; and payment of claims totaling $189,132.10.

•Heard from Robbins that new carpet has been installed in the city building and walls have been painted.

•Waived permit fees for the upcoming Indiana 167 rummage sale scheduled for Friday and Saturday, Sept. 6 and 7.

•Heard from Robbins that prep work to install the first phase of new water meters will start this week.