SANTA PAULA : City Employees to Get 2.5% Pay Raise
Nearly 180 Santa Paula city employees will receive a 2.5% pay raise under an agreement approved this week by the City Council.
After months of negotiations, the City Council approved the salary package for most of its full- and part-time employees retroactive to Oct. 21, City Administrator Arnold Dowdy said.
“It’s certainly a good deal for the city and for the employees,” Dowdy said.
“Probably across the board, Santa Paula employees are paid less than the employees of every other city in the county,” he said.
The agreement covers virtually every city employee except police and fire personnel, who are in the midst of separate negotiations, Dowdy said.
The agreement reached this week runs through September, at which time new negotiations will begin, the city administrator said.
Earlier this year, the city faced a budget deficit of about $400,000. But officials were able to save about $470,000 by following the recommendations of a citizens’ committee.
Most of the $90,000 annual cost of the raises approved this week will come from those savings, Dowdy said.
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